"^m 



UBRARY OF CONGRESS t 




ODOnSbSOBa^.^ 



i 



I 



c6 

CAMP-FIRE CHATS 

OP THE ^/^y^'^'^iO 

Civil V\^ar; 

BEING THE INCIDENT, ADVENTURE AND WAYSIDE EXPLOIT OP THE 

BIVOUAC AND BATTLE FIELD, 

AS RELATED BY 

VETERAN SOLDIERS THEMSELVES. 



EMBRACING THE TRAGEDY, ROMANCE, COMEDY, HUMOR 

AND PATHOS IN THE VARIED EXPERIENCES 

OF ARMY LIFE. 



BY WASHI]N[GTO]Sr DAVIS. 



ALSO A HISTORY OF THE 



GRAND ARMY OF THE REPUBLIC 

FROM ITS BEGINNING TO THE PRESENT DATE, INCLUDING THE 20tH 

NATIONAL ENCAMPMENT AT SAN FRANCISCO, CAL., AUGUST, 

1886, AND OTHER VALUABLE INFORMATION, 

By a DOMRADE. 



DETROIT: 
W. IL BOOTIIROYD & CO. 

1887. 



COFYRIGHTBI' 

WAStirNGTON DAVIS, 

COPYRIGHT BY 

i^B. GEHMAN&CO., 

ISeb. 






G^AND pI^MY OP THE I^EPUBLI^ 

THE VETERANS AND THE VOLUNTEERS 

OF THE 

CIVIL WAR. 

UPON WHOSE LOYALTY AROSE THE STANDARD OF PERPE^ SA^ LNIO*f 
AND TO THEIR WIVES, SISTERS AND MOTHER ., 

THI^ VOLUJVIE 

Is ^BSPBGIiPULiIiY DEDIGAJUBD, 

IN THE HOPE THAT IT MAY REMAIN 

A TSSTTAMENT TO THEIR HEROIC ENDURANCE, AND A TRIBUT' TO THXIR 

HALLOWED MEMORY. 



Sbniping on THE Old @amp Gi^oukd.* 

We're tenting to-night on the old camp ground, — _ 

Give us a song to cheer 
Our weary hearts, a song of home 

And the friends we love so dear. 

CHORUS : 

Many are the hearts that are weary to-night, 

Wishing for the war to cease ; 
Many are the hearts looking for the right 

To see the dawn of peace. 

REFRAIN : 

Tenting to-night, tenting to-night, 
Tenting on the old camp ground. 



We've been tenting to-night on the old camp ground 

Thinking of days gone by ; 
Of the loved ones at home who gave us the hand. 

And the tear that said " Good-bye! " 

CHORUS. 

We are tired of war on the old camp ground, — 

Many are dead and gone, 
Of the loved and true who've left their homes ; 

Others been wounded long. 

CHORUS. 

We've been fighting to-day on the old camp ground,- 

Many are lying near; 
Some are dead, and some dying: 

Many are in tears. 

CHORUS AND REFRAIN: 



Dying to-night, dying to-night. 
Dying on the old camp ground. 



* Copyright. Used by permission of O. Ditson & Ca 

vi 



)tc 






rjJT is hoped that no "crying need" or "long-felt want" has 
III been satisfied by the publication of Camp-Fire Chats. 
^ Nor has the manuscript been prepared for the private perusal 
of a few of the author's friends; but this volume has been pub- 
lished for the same purpose as are other books in these latter 
days (save the reports issued by good old honest Uncle Sam)^ 
with the additional intent of preserving a few points of his- 
tory, and some features of army life not before delineated. 
To this end the subject matter has been selected, with suffi- 
cient humorous incident, it is thought, to relieve the work of 
dryness. 

Only one claim is made : the stories are fresh and hereto^ 
fore unpublished; and in gathering the material from the field 
the publishers and the author have spared neither labor not 
expense. It was realized that much wholesome romance, to. 
gether with many details in the history of the Civil War, re- 
mained treasured only in the memories of the veterans, or at 
least had not found their way into print, and must necessarily 
perish with the soldiers, unless the many interesting stories 
told at the various camp-fires of the Grand Army of the Re- 
public, were preserved. The preservation of these also 
achieves a very praiseworthy result: It furnishes to youthful 
minds a far better class of readinsf than the mass of exciting: 
and pernicious literature thrust upon them from all sides. 

Yi 



viii PREFACE. 

Each speaker has been given due credit, and is therefore 
responsible for the tale he has told. No character sketches 
have been attempted, for, since the characters are all living, it 
has been deemed unsafe for the author's physical well-being ; 
and then such sketches, either pen portrait or caricature, have 
been odious to the writer ever since his school-boy days, 
when he was cartooned on the old school-yard fence by a 
youthful genius with a stolen piece of chalk. 

Thanks to the many who have furnished the anecdotes 
herein contained, and for their kind assistance so freely tend- 
ered the author while collecting the data; and especially to 
Symmes M. Jelley, A. M. If the book is v/elcomed by the 
public as heartily as the author has been received by the 
members of the Grand Army, no anxiety will be felt by 

W. D. 
. January, 1884. ^ 



The Grand Army of the Republic has grown rapidly 
since 1884. Mighty in numbers ; leader in patriotism ; 
crowned with the admiration and love of the Nation : its 
success is both a pride and a joy to everyone. No other 
nation has such a body of men. Their plans, their acts, 
their words are eagerly read by Columbians happy millions. 
The camp-fire chats of to-day have a precious value ; not 
alone when modestly recounting incidents of that American 
valor and voluntary sacrifice that the world pronounces un- 
equaled, but also when teaching genuine patriotism — an 
unselfish love of country. 

The publishers add fifty pages, skillfully gathered by a 
Comrade from the G. A. R. riches of the past three years. 
January, 1887. 




CAMP-FIRE I. 

The S. P. U. H— The First Camp-Fire— The Camp of Insti-uction— 
The Farmer and the Watermelons—" How Tedious and Tasteless the 
Hours " — The Closing Scene. 

CAMP-FIRE II. 

How a Balky Horse did not Surrender — ^The Execution of Deserters 
—A Pension for a Pin-Scratch. 

CAMP-FIRE III, 

The Maddest Man in the Army — A Regimental Foot Race — Effects 

of Excitement — " Bress de Lor'." 



CAMP-FIRE IV. 

Buttermilk Without Money, but not Without Price— Freaks under 
Fire— "Johnnies " and "Yanks" stop Shooting to Shake hands— Sol 
diers at the Fort Different from « Home Guards "—Origin of ♦' Hold 
the Fort." 

CAMP-FIRE V. 

A Surprise for the Johnnies— With Banks up the Red River— Prison 
Life in Texas— Soldiers yet on Parole — Trouble Between the 13th and 
19th Army Corps. 

CAMP-FIRE VI. 

" Slap-jacks "—A Trip up the Tennessee— The Horrors of Valley 
Forge Repeated— Bullets and Etiquette— "Copper- Heads." 

ix 



X CONTENTS. 

CAMP-FIRE VII. 

A Banquet to the S. P. U. H.— " S. B."— A Classical Exposition of 
th« Term, and some Reminiscences for Illustration. 

CAMP-FIRE VIII. 

Libby Prison — The " Horned Yankee " — Andersonville, whose Sur- 
name is Death — A Modern Miracle — The Altar of Kleptomania Receives 
a Sacrifice of Seven. 

CAMP-FIRE IX. 

The Florence Prison — Homeward Bound — Pathetic Incidents. 
CAMP-FIRE X. 

War on the Water — Daring Deeds— How Many Regiments each Man 
Captured — Remarkable Escapes — The Biggest Liar in the War. 

CAMP-FIRE XL 

Sutlers — Quartermasters — Mules — How Rich a Soldier must be to 
Buy Anything from a Sutler — The Profits in the Government Appoint- 
ment of Quartermaster on a Regular Salary — Eulogy on the Sutler and 

the Army Mule. 

CAMP-FIRE XIL 

Bushwhacking — What Circumstances do with Cases — A Jest on Gen. 
A.J. Smith — Foraging. 

CAMP-FIRE XIIL 

Battles Unsung by the Muse of History — Origin of the Stars and 
Stripes — Genealogy of George Washington. 

CAMP-FIRE XIV. 

A Rollicking Recruit— Love and War— The S. P. U. H. Sutler— 
*' When Gabriel Blows his Trumpet in de Morning." 

CAMP-FIRE XV. 
The Race for Columbia — "To Amputate or not to Amputate?" 

CAMP-FIRE XVI. 
" Brazen Effrontery " — Corduroy Roads— Long John, the Darkey. 

CAMP-FIRE XVII. 

Lazy Jim's Stratagem lo Avoid Walking Back to Camp — " They got 
Qur Flag "—Anecdote of General Sherman. 



CONTENTS. xi 

CAMP-FIRE XVIIL 

Many were Called, but One was Chosen— A Sad Occurrence — " Let 
the Dead and the Beautiful Rest." 

CAMP-FIRE XIX. 

A Reminiscence of General Nelson — A Sham Battle Demolishes a 
Sutler's Store. 

CAMP-FIRE XX. 

"When this Cruel War is over" — A Continuation of Camp-Fire 
X VIII. —A " Muley " Yoke of '* Muley " Oxen. 

CAMP-FIRE XXI. 

The Grand Army of the Republic not a Political Organization — Its 
Principles: Fraternity, Charity, Loyalty — A Complete, Brief Record of 
its Organization and Growth to the Present Time. 

CAMP-FIRE XXII. 

A Romance of the War— A Story Strange but True — What an Insane 
Fisherman Caught. 

CAMP-FIRE XXIII. 

The Wrong Ox by the Horns — The Tables Turned on an Officer'^ 
Strict Discipline — A Decision by Mansfield, General — Rivalry in 
Religion. 

CAMP-FIRE XXIV. 

Wrong Kind of a Cat — " More About the Broken Window," or Craw- 
ford Again. 

CAMP-FIRE XXV. 

A R«iw Recruit's Anxiety — Another Story about Another Mule — 
On the St. Francis River — A General Incog. Refused a Cup of Coffee 
— A Confederate's Idea of what the Gospel is. 

CAMP-FTRE XXVI. 

The Sequel to the Farmer and the Watermelons — The Un-wisdom of 
a Raw Recruit — A Joke on the General — The Temperance Major — The 
Captain who didn't Water his Whiskey. 

CAMP-FIRE XXVII. 
Home on a Furlough — A Premonition of Death — Hours of Peril. 



xii CONTENTS. 

CAMP-FIRE XXVIII. 

Dinnis M'Ginley as the ' Secretary of War "—Mart McCoy and the 
Geieral— How the 15th Corps came by its Badge — The Romance that 
a Spent Ball Brought About — How Wheeler's Cavalry got some Corn 
Meal — Sensations upon Seeing a Comrade Killed by a Bullet. 

CAMP-FIRE XXIX. 

The Truth about the Capture of the Guerilla Chieftain, John Morgan 
— Audacious Audacity — The Last Plank of the Ship of State. 

CAMP-FIRE XXX. 

A Mule Driver's Peculiarities— Foragers— Major Collins' Negro Boy, 
Fraction — The Sad Story of an Unknown Michigan Soldier. 

CAMP-FIRE XXXI, 

"Desecrated" Vegetables — What they were and how they Cooked 
'Em— Shaming the " Biggest Liar." 

CAMP-FIRE XXXIl. 

Two of Mosby's Men Personate Union Officers — A Successful Mili- 
tary Manoeuver — Character Maintained Notwithstanding the Demoral- 
izing Influences of Army Life. 

CAMP-FIRE XXXIIL 

Reminiscences of the Battle of Corinth— A Brave Boy in Gray— The 
Old Canteen. 

CAMP-FIRE XXXIV. 

The Last Camp-Fire— The End of the Season— The S. P. U. H 
Valedictory — A Hymn of Peace. 

CAMP FIRE XXXV. 

Rally Again ! — The Veterans Must Meet Together — How the G. A. 
R. Grows — A Third of a Million Comrades — Over Oue Hundred Thou- 
sand in Associate Societies — The Battles and Important Events of the 
War Arranged by Dates. 

CAMP-FIRE XXXVI. 

Events Preliminary to the Firing of Sumter — The Different Calls for 
Troops— Strength of the Army — Number of Soldiers From Each 
State. 



CONTENTS. xiii 

CAMP-FIRE XXXVII. . 

Strength of tlie U. S. Army at Various Dates and at the Present Time 
— The Grand Army of the Republic — The Eighteenth National En- 
campment at Minneapolis, Minn. 

CAMP-FIRE XXXVIII. 

The Nineteenth National Encampment at Portland, Me, — Mother 
Bickerdyck — Mrs. Anna Wittenmyer — Fraternity, Charity and Loyalty 
in the Order. 

CAMP-FIRE XXXIX. 

The Battle of Gettysburg— The Trip to Calif ornia — The Wonderful 
Scenery in Colorado — Reception of the G. A. R. at San Francisco — 
Business of the Encampment. 

CAMP-FIRE XL. 

Sacramento and Other Cities Honor the G. A. R. — The Ladies of the 
Grand Army of the Republic — The Woman's Relief Corps — The Sons 
of Veterans — The Daughters of Veterans — The Nation's Grateful Love 
for the Grand Army. 



■^iLLUSiPI^AfPIONS.^^ 



A Camp-fire Chat Frontispiece 

Knapsack 24 

Cartridge Box 31 

The Old Mill 35 

" Bress de Lor' " .' . . 41 

Shell-gun 43 

Skirmish Line 49 

Camp Ford, Texas 65 

Haversack , , 72 

" Fall in for Grub " 85 

Bombs . : , 91 

Libbj Prison 97 

Anderson V ille, , 107 

Pontoon Bridge 137 

Shot out of a Cannon 145 

Redoubt , 149 

Foraging 167 

Shrapnel Shell 169 

Charge of Cavalry 314 

A Halt on the March 187 

Corduroy Road.. 199 

The Latest News 280 

Brittle of Looko' t Monntain 269 

The Morning Reveille , 223 

A Islidnight March 329 

T. A. R. Badge ^ 245 

Gen. Lucius Fairchild 2 

Gen. W. T. Sherman 346 

Gen. John A. Logan 370 

Battle of Gettysburg 381 

The Royal Gorge 383 

Gen. Walter S. Payne 403 

adv 



i-^--. 



CAMP-FIRE CHATS, 



INTRODUCTION. 

,,g«gEVER was there war or military conflict more prolific 
3n of incident than the Civil War of America. The 
explosion of a shell was frequently followed by the 
crack of a joke, and a bullet or a bayonet produced more fun 
than fear; yet neither were ever so close that they left no time 
for a prayer. The raging battle was never so intense that a 
dying comrade could not be given a drink of water; and no 
march was ever so long, nor fatigue so great, that a biscuit 
could not be divided with a messmate. Such was the sym- 
pathy which held the army with its common cord. 

But this is easily understood; for behind the war of mus- 
ketry was a war of mind. Each bullet and each bayonet was 
guided bv a thought and an inspiration, whose constancy 
placed upon each fort and parapet an emblem of fraternity 
and liberty which put to shame the ancient banners of spolia- 
tion and conquest. 

Spartan bravery could not have coped with American 
courage in such a struggle; nor the ominious crescent of the 
Saracens have been more awe-inspiring, nor the cross of thc- 
Crusaders more worshipful, than the flag which quieted the 
trembling sovereignty of the western world. 

The history of this war has been written, the causes and 
results have been discussed, and the record made; but the nar- 
ration of personal adventure and observation can never fail to 

IS 



l6 INTRODUCTION. 

be of interest, aad the tales, by those who survive, of the true 
bravery of America's noblest sons, with their daring deeds 
and marvelous exploits, will ever remain in the hearts of the 
people, like the traditions of old, and become the fireside his- 
tory of a modern conflict between the brothers of a nation, in 
which both believed themselves in the right. 

And, Indeed, it is here that we must look for the real his- 
tory and the exposition of the true character of a people in 
time of war. The movements, campaigns and statistics of 
armies may be chronicled, and in their cumbersome dryness 
be placed away among the archives of the nation ; but the 
veritable disposition of those who harbor the passion, the 
coolness, the love, the hate, the sympathy, the cruelty, the 
right, the wrong, — must ever be sought from individual 
sources. 

It is not possible to give every soldier's experience through 
the entire war, but the incidents in this volume are taken from 
actual experiences. If the aim has been accomplished, a variety 
of information has been disclosed which will give to the gen- 
eral reader a picture of war and army life such as has never 
been presented to the people. 

Many books give a drawn-out list of battles as the history 
of our Civil War. The war was not in all a military con- 
flict; it was a complete revolution, in which the many customs 
and whole life of one people were changed, and as a result of 
which new energy thrilled another people. The war was 
not all battles nor all marches; but a stern struggle of com- 
bined intellectual and physical forces. Intelligence and 
reason pervaded rank and file; and while the sword was in its 
scabbard, between acts, discussion held sway. It was in this 
way that the revolutionary features were slowly wrought out, 
and this will be clear only when we have paused by many a 
camp-fire to witness the manifestations of a change in our 
national character, as disclosed by the actors themselves. 



CAMP-FIRE I. 

THE S. P. U. H. THE FIRST CAMP-FIRE THE CAMP OF 

INSTRUCTION THE FARMER AND THE WATERMELONS 

"HOW TEDIOUS AND TASTELESS THE HOURS " THE 

CLOSING SCENE. 

^HE Society for the Preservation of Unpublished His- 
tory, having been duly authorized and organized, with 
each of its members a living embodiment of all the 
accomplishments desirable in a minor historian, and each a 
commissioned and lawful emissary of the great Muse, w^nt 
forth determined to prove the beneficence of its existence, by 
first gathering in and giving shelter to such facts and observa- 
tions in the history of the Civil War in America as had not 
felt the protecting hand of the "art preservative of all arts." 
What the society lacked in numbers it made up in spirit, and 
if its physical shortcoming was marked, its Muse-ical devel- 
opment was proportionally great. 

One feature, however, was especially noticeable, and this 
was the unusually large ears of the members, which was 
only another evidence of their fitness for the work in hand. 
Aided by this abnormal development they would collect the 
dying accents of many an unwept hero ; and, moreover, in 
the modern school of ethics, an attentive ear is more to be 
admired than an oily tongue; yea, than a tongue doubly oiled. 
Likewise, they were well equipped in every appointment. But 
it must not be inferred from this that the members of the 
S. P. U. H. belong to the long-eared race of zoology, or that 

(2) 17 



:8 CAMP-FIRE CHATS OP THE CIVIL WAR. 

all historians have long ears, or that the long-eared race are 
all historians, for such an inference would be historically in- 
correct, and far from the purpose of the fraternity. 

Enthusiastic over their worthy intention, the S. P. U. H. 
arrived at a post of the Grand Army of the Republic, imme- 
diately sought out the commander, and notified him that their 
great ears itched for stories of the war, and memoirs of army 
life. That eminent was astonished. Whether to consider 
the society a fraud or a humbug he did not know. Certainly 
it was not real, and yet the age of myths and miracles was 
past. 

"War!" said he; "I surrender. Your assault has found 
me unarmed. The attack is a complete surprise." 

Twenty years of active business life had dispelled all mili- 
tary thoughts. In his efforts to recall his early life the gray- 
haired veteran was almost tranced. But the balm of assur- 
ance was administered, his soldierly instincts returned, and the 
commander invited the S. P. U. H. to be at the rendezvous 
when the sun's rays should be succeeded by those from the 
camp-fire. 

They consented, and at the appointed time met the assem- 
bled veterans, who had been summoned into camp by the 
commander. After the fire burned well and threw its com- 
fort into the faces of those present, the historical hard-tack 
and coffee were served in the style a la i86i-'65. When this 
was done the chief bade the soldiers be quiet, and thus ex- 
horted them: 

"Comrades — I have called you into camp this evening for 
special duty. We have present a representative of the Society 
for the Preservation of Unpublished History. The ears of 
this society itch for stories of our old camp-fires, marches, 
battles and crude experiences, and memories of our ancient 
valor. Let him among you who has the easiest tongue and 
best memory now speak. Whoever may give any curious 



CAMP-FIRE CHATS OF THE CIVIL WAR. I9 

information about the many features of soldier life, or describe 
the manners and customs of the rank and file, the saddle, the 
battery or the gunboat, or give a strange adventure, or some 
point of history heretofore unrecorded, shall have his name 
and regiment written in the great book of the Muse, which 
the Society for the Preservation of Unpublished History has 
now in charge. If any of you have such incidents and obser- 
vations of unwritten history, let it now be divulged, or forever 
be cast into oblivion." 

Thereupon the pipe of peace was passed around the camp- 
fire of plenty. When the "boys" were all settled. Rev. A. 
R. Thain, a private of the 96th Illinois Infantry, remembered 
an anecdote, and said: 

" I think of one incident that occurred in our camp of in- 
struction at Rockford, 111., but, for the benefit of our visitors I 
will give what comes to my mind of our first experience in 
war, before I relate it. 

" Our country knew very little about war when the Civil 
War broke out, and the task of forming an army from raw 
recruits, many of whom had never seen a soldier, was great 
indeed. Our only consolation in those days was that our 
antagonists were in somewhat the same condition of igno- 
rance. And yet we did possess one advantage over them ; we 
knew that we were ignorant of the art of war, while many of 
them thought themselves thoroughly proficient. Each South- 
erner was ready to meet as many ' Yankees' as he had fin- 
gers and toes, doubtless imagining himself the eldest son of 
Maa's. I remember reading the statement of one writer con- 
cerning the Confederate Army in its first organization; that 
'every man brought a colored servant with him to stand guard, 
or relieve his master of fatigue duty;' that 'every amateur 
officer had his own pet system of tactics, and the effect of the 
incongruous teachings, when brought out on battalion drill, 
closely resembled that of the music of Bob Sawyer's party, 



20 CAMP-FIRE CHATS OF THE CIVIL WAR. 

where each guest sang the chorus to the tune he knew best.' 
" But in the Union camps of instruction, all the boys who 
were there will remember how strictly the discipline was en- 
forced. The raw recruit was tied up so tightly with red tape 
that he could hardly stir without an order from headquarters. 
Every day he was ground between the upper and nether 
millstones of company and battalion drill, and between times 
was, perhaps, sifted and bolted by squad drill. His slow, care- 
less gait had to be transformed into a prompt marching step. 
His habit of executing all movements in easy curves must be 
corrected, his muscles must have a certain jumping-jack jerki- 
ness, his frame a ramrod uprightness, chest thrown back, eyes 
to the front, little fingers at the seams of the pants; must learn 
which was his left foot, and for some this was very diffi- 
cult, for I know one man who was sent home from the camp 
of instruction because he could not master the mysteries of 
' hay-foot, straw-foot.' 

" But, perhaps, one of the most difficult things for the new 
soldier to appreciate and do, was the performance of guard 
duty — camp-guard in the home camp. It might do well 
enough in the daytime, to keep citizens out and soldiers in, 
and impress visitors with the pomp and pageantry of war; but 
at night, when the soldiers were sleeping on the soft side of a 
pine board and dreaming of the beds they had left behind 
them, what necessity was there, military or otherwise, for 
posting men all around the camp at intervals often or fifteen 
rods ? 

« The camp of instruction at Rockford was bounded on one 
side by the Rock River, but I suppose if the camp had been on 
an island it would have been surrounded by guards, if for 
nothing else than to keep the river from creeping out of its 
bed, or the frogs from jumping across the guard line. At 
first, the men who stood camp guard adopted a somewhat 
novel, but certainly very noisy way of relieving the tedium of 



CAMP-FIRE CHATS OF THE CIVIL WAR. 21 

the night watches. If Mr. Darwin had been present he 
might have said that it was a recurrence of ancient practices 
in the line of man's descent, for each guard adopted the cry 
of some beast or bird, and made' the night hideous with imi- 
tations. From Post No. lo would come the crow of a cock; 
Post No. 12 would answer with the headlong, heels-over- 
head gobble of a turkey; Post No. 15 seemed to be held by a 
dog, and from Post No. 20 would come the stridulous hee- 
haw of a donkey. And this was practiced in many camps 
throughout the war. Close imitations were greeted with 
great applause. The most famous man in our line of bar- 
racks was a private in Company D, 96th Illinois, who could 
imitate the cry of a turkey so closely that the listener involun- 
tarily thought of Thanksgiving. The sequel showed, how- 
ever, that he could gobble better than he could fight. 

" In the camp of instruction we also learned to forage. Ir. 
was wrong, of course, to practice on friends, but the soldier's 
stomach sometimes, got the better of his conscience. One 
ludicrous incident occurred. A farmer came into camp with 
a load of watermelons, and a crowd of soldiers gathered 
around his wagon, as if eager to purchase his wet goods. One 
soldier selected a melon and began to bargain very earnestly 
for it, gradually drawing the farmer a fev/ steps further away 
from the wagon. He told the farmer that he and his com- 
rades had left their ancestral melon-patches to go and fight the 
battles for the Union; that Uncle Sam did not pay them very 
liberal wages; that as yet they had received no pay, but that 
they were fond of melons, and he wanted to know what was 
the lowest price which he would take for the particular melon 
which he held in his hands. He argued very pathetically for 
a low price. Being patriotic, the farmer sold it for a few 
cents, and after some delay in making change, turned toward 
the wagon to supply the other customers. But sad to tell, his 
wagon was empty, and not a melon was in sight. Bringing 



32 CAMP-FIRE CHATS OF THE CIVIL WAR. 

eatables into the locality was like pouring water on a sand 
heap. With a disgusted look, the farmer tried to get a last 
glimpse of one of his melons, at least, but it was in vain, and 
he mounted his wagon, remarking: 'Guess I'd better git 
my wagon out o' here pretty soon, or you'll eat that.' He 
left the camp soon after with an empty wagon, a flat pocket- 
book, and a rather low opinion of camp morals." 

When Mr. Thain had finished, Mr. Wm. Tasker, Chaplain 
of an Illinois Infantry Regiment, began: 

" That reminds me of one that occurred in Northern Mis- 
souri, in a swamp called Mud Creek. It was the first guard 
for many of the boys after leaving the camp of instruction, 
and it was hard for some of them to accustom themselves to 
the loneliness of sentinel duty. It was especially hard for 
one young fellow, I remember, who had never been from 
home very much, and already began to be homesick. His 
post was in a thicket of undergrowth from which the large 
trees had been cut, and it was his first night on guard. It had 
been raining all the afternoon, and by eight o'clock in the 
evening the usual camp-life was hushed, and all was quiet. 
The night was very dark, and the rain still poured down — 
one of those dreary, drizzly, dismal times so unwelcome to a 
homesick soldier — in fact, the place and time could only be 
duplicated by the dreariness of a Missouri thicket on a rainy 
night. 

"The lad paced his weary beat to and fro, to and fro, all 
the evening. Nine o'clock came, and the stillness became op- 
pressive. Ten o'clock came; still nothing could be heard ex- 
cept the monotonous patter of the rain. Eleven o'clock; 
twelve o'clock; all was quiet. The sentinel walked up and 
down again. Then he sat down. Nothing would break the 
silence. He thought of home. Then a tear trickled down 
his cheek. To clear it away he began to sing: 



CAMP-FIRE CHATS OF THE CIVIL WAR, 2Z 

'* ' How tedious and tasteless the hours 
When Jesus no longer I see ; 
Sweet prospects, sweet birds, and sweet flowers 
Have all lost their sweetness to me.' 

"Just then the officer of the guard, a gruff, irreverent speci- 
men, came around, heard the music, and thought to have a 
little sport. Creeping quietly up, he suddenly raised to his 
feet within a few steps of the startled soldier. The music 
ceased. 

" ' Halt!' the sentinel commanded. ' Who goes there?' 

" Placing his hands up to his mouth for a trumpet, the 
officer loudly whispered, 'Jeff Davis/' 

"'Oh! I thought it was the Second Relief,' said the 
soldier." 

Then Mr. Svanson John Petersen, of De Grace's Twenty- 
Pound Paragon Battery, Company H, First 111. Light Artil- 
lery of the United States of America Volunteers, arose. He 
began with his favorite tribute to Gen. W. T. Sherman, and 
was not alone in his admiration of the great chieftain; but the 
boys had heard his story before, and knew its length. The 
fire burned low, many of the soldiers had been doing fatigue 
duty during the day, some of them had mixed their coffee 
with a stronger beverage during the evening, and the major- 
ity longed for the bimk. Mr. Petersen continued: 

" It vas de march vrom Savannah to Raleigh. De camp 
vas lade at night, und dere vas early rizing all de time. De 
vedder vas bad, und de boys discourage. Ven de boys vas 
discourage dey vould cuss de offisairs. Ve vas cussin' Sher- 
man und de offisairs, ven ve vas riding along von day, because 
de war vas too long. Ve vas vith de third gun, und I vas 
de lead driver. De second driver he say to me, ' Keep still,' 
All at once. 

" Preddy zoon Sherman und his shtafF files along up de 
rear. Sherman says, ' Vat's de matter?' 



14. CAMP-FIRE CHATS OF THE CIVIL WAR, 

« ' Ve are tired oud,' ve zay. 

" Den Sherman vas very polite. De soldiers are von by 
his expression. He say : * Boys, it's preddy zoon over. I 
know it's hard, but a little longer ve'll be home — ve are on 
our vay home!' If he had been a captain he vould svear at 
us. It vas very sad." 

"Is that the end?" asked the Society for the Preservation 
of Unpublished History. 

« Veil, 1 haf anudder von," said Mr. Petersen. 

" We will hear that another time," said the society. On 
looking around it was discovered that there were a great 
many dry eyes in the audience after this sad story. In fact, 
all eyes were dry, and there emanated from the various breath- 
ing apparatuses sounds indicative of weariness. The god 
Morpheus had weighed their eyelids down; upon beholding 
which the society beckoned Mr. Petersen to be seated. In 
course of half an hour the soldiers began to leave camp, one 
at a time, each quietly departing after he shook off his drowsi- 
ness, and feeling too much victimized to arouse his felloW' 
slumberers. 





CAMP-FIRE IL 

HOW A BALKY HORSE DID NOT SURRENDER — THE EXECU- 
TION OF DESERTERS A PENSION FOR A PIN-SCRATCH. 

•HEN the veterans convened on the followinoj even- 
ing, some one soberly alluded to the discourtesy of 
the previous meeting in withdrawing from the 
camp-fire so unceremoniously. With great humiliation 
the guilty each made a low bow, and assured the others 
that nothing but the best intention — which has excused far 
greater crimes — had possessed them ; that they had quietly 
withdrawn that they might leave their weary comrades to 
the full enjoyment of unbroken slumber. This explanation 
being accepted, Mr. Joseph Dewey, of the 7th Iowa Cavalry, 
Company C, said : 

" Let me relate the glorious tradition of how a balky horse 
saved the life of Captain Bartlett. It was just before the capture 
of Memphis, and our boys were returning from a three-days' 
raid. We had come in sight of what we thought were two 
regiments of Federal infantry, and wheeled about to join 
them. But when we were within a few rods of the supposed 
Federals, we suddenly discovered that they were about two 
thousand 'Johnnies' in blue coats. 

" Captain Bartlett had a very remarkable horse. He was a 
dark bay, bob-tail, straight neck, and short ears. This horse 
always held his head about twenty-nine degrees higher than 
the heads of his fellows, probably from his sense of pride. 
But with all his imperfections he was not blind. I have never 
known of a blind horse that was balky. Jehu — that was his 

25 



36 CAMP-FIRE CHATS OF THE CIVIL WAR. 

name — had two good I's, one for intelligence, the other for 
indolence. However, he rarely used both at the same time. 
He would glance backward with the eye of intelligence to 
see what was going on in the rear, and then, all of a sudden, 
he could see nothing more except through the indolence eye. 
Yet withal, this noble animal was trustworthy — you could al- 
ways trust him to eat a peck of oats and call for more; and he 
was equally reliable for standing still when there was too 
much weight on his back. 

" Upon discovering the true character of the blue-coated 
infantry, the cavalry wheeled again, and were off. Jehu 
stopped. He had become tired of horse society. He desired 
solitude. The captain whipped and spurred, all to no pur- 
pose. Then the Confederates opened tire, and it began to be 
uncomfortable for Jehu, though no damage was done. Then 
another volley came, and Jehu at once concluded to join the 
enemy. To cafry out this determination, he turned his head 
to the left, stiffened his neck, and darted off in a 2:40 gait, 
side-wise, to the right. This brought him into the midst of 
the enemy, who yelled to the captain: * Surrender! sur- 
render! You Yankee s — o — b — !' " 

[This military term may need some explanation. It origi- 
nated with the Confederates early in the war, and was an ap- 
pellation given to all soldiers of the Union Army, from what- 
ever point they hailed. In civil life it became shortened to 
«' Yankee jc>3," but here it is used in its strictest hostile sense.] 

" But no surrender for Jehu. The enemy's ranks parted and 
let him through, but the firing continued, and still was heard : 

"'Surrender! surrender! you Yankees^ o— b — !' 

*' ' How in thunder can I surrender,' answered the captain, 
still borne through the ranks on the back of the horse. ' I 
will if you'll stop my horse.' Several shots were fired, but 
strange to say, Jehu made good his escape without a scratch 
to himself or the captain, amidst great applause." 



CAMP-FIRE CHATS OF THE CIVIL WAR. 27 

Mr. H. p. Thompson, Orderly Sergeant of Company H, 
49th New York, and later in charge of the provost guard, 
then asked if the S. P. U. H. would like to hear concerning 
the execution of two deserters. 

"Yes,'' said their representative; "give us a description of 
how deserters were executed." 

" Well, I remember what I am going to tell as well as if 
it happened only yesterday. The prominent part I bore in 
the sad affair fixed it indelibly on my mind. 

" It was near Brandy Station, Va., on the 3d of December, 
1863. Desertions were becoming too frequent, and some- 
thing had to be done to stop the disloyalty. Seventeen desert- 
ers had been tried and sentenced at this time; but fifteen were 
pardoned by the general proclamation of President Lincoln, 
pardoning all deserters who would return and take their 
places in the ranks. The two who were not pardoned were 
George Blowers, of Company A, 3d Vermont, and John 
Tague, Company A, 5th Vermont. There were a great many 
trials for desertion during the war, but deserters were seldom 
executed; they usually received a lighter sentence. Tlie 
most general sentence was that the deserter should return to 
the army and serve out all of his original time of enlistment 
which had not been served, without pay or allowance. For 
instance, if a soldier who had enlisted for four years had 
deserted at the end of six months, he would be brought back 
when caught, and be compelled to serve three years and 
six months more. This was the penalty, except in flagrant 
cases. 

" Some were sent to Dry Tortugas, which was almost 
equivalent to banishment. Dry Tortugas is a group of 
islands belonging to the United States, at the entrance of 
the Gulf of Mexico, 120 miles west southwest of Cape 
Sable, the southern extremity of Florida. The islands are 
very low and swampy, partly covered with mangrove 



28 CAMP-FIRE CHATS OP THE CIVIL WAR. 

bushes, which is a species of tropical fruit resembling the 
paw paw and banana. It was a dismal place, and deserters 
were compelled to serve out a term of years with ball and 
chain, the same as other prisoners. 

"Occasionally there was a man hung; but Tague and 
Blowers were to be shot. The provost marshal of the county 
or locality where they were cauo:ht had returned them, as 
was the custom, to their regiment, and drav/n his bounty, 
which was a reward of $50 apiece (I beheve), offered by the 
State in which they were found. 

" The court-martial then tried and sentenced them, and 
they were placed in tents by themselves in charge of the pro- 
vost guard, which was chosen pro rata from the different 
regiments of a division. The guard in this instance was a 
detail of twenty men chosen from the regular provost guard. 
When a deserter was put under guard, two or three of these 
men would stand with loaded muskets around the tent of the 
deserter, being relieved every two hours. No soldier was 
ever made to stand guard over a deserter from his own com- 
pany or regiment, for, of course, it was always painful for 
one comrade to be compelled to enforce a severe law upon a 
fellow comrade, and possibly a schoolmate, or even a brother, 
and then there was danger of a plot to escape if an intimacy 
of this kind were allowed. So these two boys from Vermont 
were handed over to our regiment, the 49th New York. 

" It was a beautiful morning. The sky was clear, the sun 
shone brightly, the air was soft and still, and two ambu- 
lances, containing rough wooden coffins, were brought up to 
the tents where the prisoners were under guard. Each 
soldier was then placed in an ambulance, on his coffin, and 
the retinue proceeded to the place of execution, about a 
mile from the headquarters of the guard. The ambulances 
were drawn this distance by the soldiers who were to do 



CAMP-FIRE CHATS OF THE CIVIL WAR. 29 

the shooting. When they arrived at the chosen place, the 
division, composed of about ten thousand soldiers, was formed 
into a hollow square to witness the sad affair. A hollow 
square is a double line of soldiers on three sides of a square, 
fronting the fourth side, which is left open, as the objective 
point of operations. It was used on this occasion for an im- 
posing display, and to intimidate and prevent other soldiers 
present from committing a like crime. 

" It was a scene full of awe, never to be forgotten by those 
who took part. All who witnessed it seemed to feel the 
solemn presence of death. When the coffins were placed in 
the open part of the square, John Tague attempted to be 
jovial by rapping in the bottom of his coffin and asking some 
of the boys if they could not put shavings or something 
in it, as it would be a pretty hard nest; but no applause 
greeted his remark, and it reacted upon him with solemn 
force. The adjutant general then stepped out into a position 
a little forward from the center of the square, and in a clear, 
but tremulous voice, read the finding of the court-martial to 
the troops. The guns used by the provost guard on occasions 
like this were always loaded by a person appointed for the pur- 
pose. It would not do to let soldiers load their own guns, as 
they would probably put in blank cartridges. The feeling of 
responsibility for a death was too intense in such cases. How- 
ever, one blank cartridge was always put into one of the 
guns, so that each of the men who did the shooting might 
suppose that he had the blank, and that his shot did not kill 
the prisoner. 

"When the adjutant finished reading, the guard was 
ordered forward, divided into two platoons of ten each, and 
the guns were handed to them. As I have said, I shall 
never forget this particular moment. I had charge of one of 
the platoons, and the orders were that the man having such 
charge should step up with a loaded musket and blow out the 



30 CAMP-FIRE CHATS OF THE CIVIL WAR. 

brains of the victim in case the volley discharged at him by 
the platoon failed to kill! I held my musket ready in my 
hand, and was to shoot John Tague. The other platoon was 
in charge of Sergeant Otis B. Hayes. He was a man of 
strong nerve and moral courage, but at this time he was as 
pale as death and as weak as a child ; in fact, he could hardly 
stand. He was to end the life of George Blowers, if the ten 
shots from his platoon failed. 

" While the finding of the court-martial was being read 
by the adjutant, the doomed men stood up. But they were 
now ordered to kneel on their coffins. A quarter-sheet of 
ordinary note paper — called by the boys a ' paper heart ' — 
was then pinned on the coat of each victim, over his heart. 
When this was done, there was an awful silence. The 
doomed boys had not been blindfolded, and each countenance, 
though brave to the last, betrayed the solemn consciousness 
that within a minute more they would be within the pale of 
death. All was suspense. Clapping his hands to his heart, 
John Tague said, ' Boys, shoot me here — make no mis- 
take!' Then came the final order from the provost marshal: 

« t Ready ! Aim ! Fire ! ' 

" Tague fell forward on his face and never breathed again ; 
but Blowers was horribly mangled, and fell forward on his 
hands and knees, exclaiming : 

" ' Oh ! my God — my God ! ' 

" Sergeant Hayes trembled like an aspen. He was to end 
the poor fellow's existence! He advanced toward the spot, 
while ten thousand soldiers held their hushed breath. But, 
to the relief of all. Blowers died before the Sergeant reached 
him ; and the troops formed company front, and marched in 
review past the coffins to view the bodies of their dead 
comrades." 

" That is true to the letter, and well given," said Andrew 
W. Brazee, late major of the 49th New York. " I was the 



CAMP-FIRE CHATS OF THE CIVIL WAR, 31 

provost marshal who gave the order,Jand remember it well." 

A general from Ohio, who had charge of a brigade, then 
gave this incident to illustrate the eagerness with which a 
certain element in our army sought redress from the govern- 
ment for injuries sustained, even before the pain of a hurt had 
subsided ; in fact, an injury was hardly received before they 
began to weigh, in their minds, the amount of annuity to 
which they would be entitled. 

*' A Dutchman had been detailed as an orderly on duty at 
the general's headquarters, and in an engagement was unfortu- 
nate enough to have the index and second finger of his right 
hand shot off. He was running to and fro across the battle 
field when he met the general, and, with tears rolling down 
his cheeks, he exclanned, ' Oh, Sheneral, Sheneral, shoost look 
at my hand.' The general, after expressing sorrow and sym- 
pathy, was about to move on, when the man again turned his 
tearful face toward him, and, holding up his bleeding hand, in 
pitiful tones cried out: 

"'Oh, Sheneral! Sheneral! how much pension I gets for 
him ? Don't you tink I would get two pensions, one for each 
finger what I lose.'" " 

This story was considered a good one to close with, anJ 
the second camp-fire was dismissed. 




CAMP-FIRE III. 

THE MADDEST MAN IN THE ARMY A REGIMENTAL FOOT 

RACE EFFECTS OF EXCITEMENT " BRESS DE LOr'." 

POYS, do you recollect the race between our regiment 
and the 2d Iowa?' said Mose Huntley, of the 53d Illinois. 
"Yes," said Mr. Kessler, a First Lieutenant of one 
of the companies, " it was just before the battle of Corinth, 
and I remember about that time of seeing the maddest man 
I ever saw in my life. He belonged to our company, and was 
a fine soldier, patriotic and courageous, but impetuous. His 
name was Peterson, I believe, a strong, burly Swede. 

" The rebel Forrest had just made an audacious raid near 
us. Peterson could stand it to fight an honest soldier in the 
front, but when he thought of being hoodwinked by a treach- 
erous guerilla, he almost tore his hair. We were ordered out 
immediately after Forrest, and pursued him all night. Just 
before daybreak we were passing through a low wooded 
land, and thought we heard the noise of the enemy in our ad- 
vance. Peterson broke into a run, thinking he would get 
a shot at ' dem kersud gareelahs.' But alas ! just as he 
started to run a vine tripped him, and he fell forward against 
a sapling of two or three years' growth. His rage was un- 
controllable. Swearing a chain of oaths, and clenching his 
musket with a death-grip, he slashed away at the sapling with 
the butt end, breaking the stock and ruining the barrel. But 
this was not enough. He grappled with the enemy, gnawed, 
kicked and twisted until he tore the tree up by the roots and 
flung it awav." 

32 



CAMP-FIRE CHATS OF THE CIVIL WAR. 3^ 

"Ehic! 'nuther vict'ry fur United States arms," said Boozy 
Dick, who was intoxicated to a stupefying degree. 

" Well, Mr. Huntley, will you not give us the race now?" 
said the Society for the Preservation of Unpublished Historyj 
when Boozy Dick again essayed to exhort: 

" Yes, let 'em go, Mose! I'll bet on the — on the — hie! — " 

" The Sergeant-at-arms will please assist the sick veteran 
to retire," ordered the commander, and accordingly Dick was 
taken to the guard-house. 

Mose Huntley then proceeded: 

" Well, as I said at starting out, it was between our regi- 
ment (the 52d Illinois) and the 2d Iowa, but Kessler stopped 
me—" 

"I beg your pardon, Comrade Huntley," said Mr. Kessler- 

" My pardon is beggable," replied Mose, and continued: 

" It was about two weeks before the battle of Corinth. 
We were out on a forage, and came to an old out-of-the-way 
house, about which weeds and bushes had grown. We heard 
a noise in the house and found six Rebs with one Yankee 
prisoner, whom they were trying to convert. 

" ' Humph!' said the Yankee, ' I'll never join your crowd 
as long as the United States has a flag and an army. You 
darned nigger-keepin' traitors ought to be ashamed to fight 
against such a flag as mine. If I was loose, I'd hang the 
whole lot of you!' The prisoner had looked through a crack 
and seen our boys coming, and it made him sort o' brave. *If 
I wanted to I could call twelve legions to my help.' 

"'Ha! ha! ha!' laughed the rebs. 'Why don't you do 
it? Do it— call 'em.' 

" 'Well, I will call a few of 'em — come on, boys,' said the 
Yank, and just then our boys broke through the door and 
took the whole six prisoners. 

"We tore everything up, and finally found a barrel of 
whiskey and one of black-strap." 
3 



54 CAMP-FIRE CHATS OF THE CIVIL WAR. 

[" Black-strap " is a kind of syrup unskilfully made from 
frost-bitten sugar-cane. It resembles a mixture of coal-tar, 
glucose and stale soda water. Sometimes it was mixed with 
whiskey, and swallowed with much relish by soldiers whose 
stomachs must have been lined with something like cast-iron. 
This chemical analysis has been obtained at great expense by 
the S. P. U. H., and is known to be correct.] 

" Near by was an old mill," continued Mr. Huntley, " and 
strange to say, several bushels of wheat in a bin. We took 
some o' the wheat and put it in the hopper, and some of the 
boys would grind while the others watched. We ground 
about a bushel before the wheels got hot, and then they began 
to screech. We had nothing but cotton-seed oil, and that 
gummed so that it was no use to put it on. We ground 
about six bushels, when the old rattle-trap stopped short, 
never to go again! Squee-squawk, squee-squawk — you 
could hear it for twenty-five miles!" 

" Aw! come down a peg," said one of the boys. 

" Well, you could hear it for five miles — I'll swear it," 
said Mose. 

" Then we took the bran, whiskey, and black-strap, and 
started for camp. We did not open either of the barrels, as 
we thought we would save it all and have a good time 
with the whole regiment that night. But alas! General 
Oglesby confiscated our entire stock. He told the teamster 
to drive the ambulance up to his tent and sleep on those bar- 
rels that night. The general was all right in this, because he 
had just chased the Rebel general. Rowdy, oflf fifty miles that 
day, and expected him back that night. He ordered the 
brigade to lie on their arms in line, for an emergency. 

" We wrapped ourselves in our blankets and lay down — 
but not to sleep. The news of the whiskey had been circu- 
lated among the boys, and made 'em restless. They rolled 
up in their blankets and began to - spoon! ' " 



3(1 CAMP-FIRE CHATS OF THE CIVIL WAR. 

" WJiat is ' spooning ' ? " asked the Society for the Pres- 
ervation of Unpublished History. 

" ' Spoonin,' my dear children," explained a veteran in 
the art, " is when soldiers wrap up in their blankets and roll 
back'ards and for'ards over one 'nother for fun. It is done 
when they have too much « budge ' aboard. But this time 
they were only anticipatin', and sort o' goin' through the 
motions like. They hadn^t had anythin' to drink, an' so it vv^as 
purty dry spoonin'. 

"It was lo o'clock and the Rebel general, Rowdy, 
hadn't come yet. The boys didn't like the idea o' being 
cheated out of their « regular,' and so they 'pointed a com- 
mission to look after them barrels of General Oglesby's. 
The commission crawled up quietly to the wagon, and 
enough of the boys formed a line on their knees to pass the 
canteens back from the wagon to the bivouac, so that no 
noise would be made. It was not long before the commis- 
sion got an auger an' commenced to bore through the bot- 
tom of the wagon up into the barrels. The first barrel they 
bored into was the black-strap, but they plugged that up, and 
it did not take long to get the whiskey out of the other one. 
The canteens were passed back, and the boys had a good old 
'spoon,' never waking the driver, who slept on the barrels. 

" In the morning the officers thought they would sample 
the whiskey, and sent to the wagon for some. But of course 
the boys had emptied the barrel, and when it was reported 
to General Oglesby, he came out, called the boys together, and 
asked: 

" ' Who in (Hades) stole that whiskey? ' 

" < The 2d and 7th Iowa!' said our boys. 

" 'No, sir! the 53(1 Illinois,' said the Iowa boys. 

*'Just then General Sweeney (then our Colonel) came 
out, and he looked awfully dry and disappointed. ' Who stole 
that whiskey.'* ' he inquired. 



CAMP-FIRE CHATS OF THE CIVIL WAR. 3^ 

*' ' The 3d and 7th Iowa ! ' we answered, and the Iowa 
boys again said we did it. 

"'By the powers! I'll arrest every one of you,' said 
Sweeney. 

" But he didn't. When it comes to arrestin' two or three 
regiments o' soldiers, it's not easily done. Then we were sud- 
denly ordered to Corinth on double-quick, to resist an attack 
by the Johnnies. The sun was hot, and the air sultry. The 
march was heavy, and we double-quicked it every step. As 
we proceeded, some of the boys became so worn-out that 
they dropped out, and lay down on the roadside. Some 
were sunstruck, and many were disabled for life, who are 
drawing pensions now for that very march. Before we got 
to Corinth, it was told among the boys that General Weaver 
(then Colonel of the zd Iowa) had bet General Sweeney 
$500 that the 2d Iowa could beat the 53d Illinois to Corinth. 
This nerved the boys up, and the ranks kept thinning out. 
I think there were some deaths reported from fatigue. When 
we got to Corinth in the evening there were only sixteen of 
our company to report — the rest had dropped on the way. 
Our company was the first to get in, but I never wanted any 
more races in mine. 

" There were no rebels there, nor any signs of any. The 
boys said the race was on account of the bet, but I thought it 
was to punish us for stealing the whiskey." 

'^AU that might have been avoided," said Capt. J. M. 
Shields, of Company F, 77th Illinois, "but let me remind 
you of something that could not have been avoided — a curious 
result which was the experience of almost every soldier in 
the war, and shows how various are the effects of excitement 
under fire, upon different temperaments. 

" We were ordered to the extreme right in the battle of 
Chickasaw Bluffs, which placed us on the bank of the Mis- 
sissippi. It was necessary to skirmish our way along, and 



38 CAMP-FIRE CHATS OP THE CIVIL WAR. 

before we arrived there, serious trouble occurred. We had 
never been in an engagement, and none of us knew whether 
we could stand fire or not. Troops could never be de- 
pended upon the first time, though they generally came 
through all right. 

" Our way was through a wooded country, and as usual 
in skirmishing, the orders were for every fellow to look out 
for himself. We pushed on in our irregular line for several 
hundred yards, the boys becoming more and more scattered. 
They realized now, for the first time in their lives that they 
were to be shot at. Some were eager and almost rash in 
their recklessness to push forward and get a shot at the rebs. 
At times they would be so far in advance that they would 
have to be ordered back. Others advanced in mortal fear, 
though they were patriotic and sincere enough, and made 
good soldiers afterward. But the terror and excitement that 
seized numbers of them, made them almost powerless to act, 
for they would lose all control of their nerves, and it is a sin- 
gular but well-established fact, that under such circumstances 
the, bowels are the first portion of the human system to feel 
this prostration of the nerves." 

Hundreds of soldiers in our civil war became deathly sick 
under their first fire, though through no cowardice of their 
own. 

" As we went on, the woods became thicker, and the fir- 
mg sharper. The excitement grew greater, and then the 
trouble began. Fully five hundred of our regiment were 
seized with the complaint, and affairs grew serious indeed. 
Among them was one poor fellow whom I shall never for- 
get. He had kept well to the rear all along, but I cheered 
him up, pushed him ahead, and managed to keep him in the 
company. 

" Presently we came out in a turnip patch, and when we 
were well in view, the rebs poured a volley into us. This 



CAMP-FIRE CHATS OF THE CIVIL WAR. 39 

was the climax. The bullets rattled and stirred the dust 
about our feet, yet no one was hurt. But the panic was upon 
us, and it was not possible to hold the weakest. One or two 
of the boys rushed forward and gained the shelter of a fence 
beyond, but the rest rapidly retreated. 

" I went back with the company, and in the rear found 
the young man I had aided. He was lying on the ground, 
deathly pale, writhing in supposed pain, and was so weak 
that he could not stand. I ordered him to get up and advance 
immediately, knowing that with one strong effort he would 
regain his courage. But he was in a sad state, and with his 
arms tightly pressed about his stomach, he pleaded : ' Oh! my 
God, my God! captain, do, do let me stop here. Oh! I am so 
sick — oh ! — oh !' 

" I could only pity the poor boy, and so I let him remain 
until he recovered. Yet he was only one of many who passed 
through the same experience, and afterward became the most 
courageous soldiers." 

The 7th Iowa was then glorified in this manner by Mr. 
William F. Montgomery: 

" When Sherman reached Columbia, S. C, 300 Union 
officers were imprisoned there. These were liberated and the 
city was fired. But before this the prisoners were slurred 
with all kinds of foul insults. Nothing seemed too base for 
the home-guards and women to utter. They were worse 
than the women of New Orleans before Butler's ' Woman 
Order.' 

" But there was one consolation, even though it came in the 
form of ebonized humanity. Every insult thrown at the 
Union prisoners only increased the enthusiasm of the negroes. 
Multitudes of negro women and children always hung about 
the army, and hailed the Union soldiers as their deliverers. 
They meant well enough, but their sympathy was generally 
carried to excess, and they became almost a general nuisance^ 



40 CAMP-FIRE CHATS OF THE CIVIL WAR 

especially the ignorant and superstitious field hands. it was 
a strain on moral courage to endure the majority of the negroes 
who worked about the houses, but these were infinitely more 
decent than the field hands. 

" In our company was a little wiry, sawed-ofF man, who 
hated a negro worse than a snake. When the boys wanted a 
little sport they would call on Tom to ' cuss the niggers,' and 
he invariably responded. He repeatedly declared that, ' if 
the niggers is emancipated I'll leave the army.' But he didn't 
leave. He staid right along until the climax was reached 
at Columbia. As we marched up, the negroes swarmed out 
on all sides to meet us. Among them was an old field hand, 
a big, stout wench, who would weigh over 400 pounds avoir- 
dupois. Her cheeks hung down, and so did her lower lip, 
which was something near an inch in thickness, and her hair 
seemed like the tail of a horse that had been feeding in a 
cockle-burr field, except that it had the hereditary kink not 
found in horse-hair. 

" The excitement among the negroes grew greater and 
more intense, and their eyes protruded far beyond their usual 
limit, as the army came near. They sang, and danced, and 
shouted. The big woman was especially wild. She raised 
her arms, snorted like an elephant, and started straight for 
me. I had been in twenty-two hard-fought battles; had heard 
the bullets sing past my ears, and shells over my head ; many 
a time had faced death in a thousand forms, and was in the 
present emergency well armed; but for once in my life I beat 
a hastv retreat. The old negress gained on me, and I was 
almost within her reach, the ranks ringing with applause, 
when I stepped behind the wiry little nigger-hater, and the 
negress wrapped her great arms around him, lifting him oflf 
his feet, and shouting: 

"'Bress de Lor'! Bress de Lor'! Yooz de ones we's 
bin prayin' faw dese fo yeahs ! Lor' bress ye, honey! I lub 



42 



CAMP-FIRE CHATS OF THE CIVIL WAR. 



ye — I lubye! Hm — hm — ,' and she squeezed the httle wiry 
man the tighter, while the boys cheered louder than ever." 

Some of the veterans present remembered the incident, 
and together with the Society for the Preservation of Unpub- 
lished History, they re-echoed the applause of twenty years 
ago. 

When the auditors were quiet again, the commander said 
that a drum corps from the Freedmen's Exodus Society 
would like to favor the camp-fire with an attack. The camp- 
fire submitted, and the drum corps filed in. Unfortunately, 
however, the man who tuned the drums had died soon after 
the war, and the position which he vacated had been unfilled up 
to date, so that the instruments were somewhat out of repair, 
and somewhat more out of tune. Then the stifled ether was 
stirred with rut-tut-tut, bum-bum ! rut-tut-tut, bum-bum ! and 
it was thought, from the most scientific musical analysis, that 
the drum corps had started out on the appropriate tune of 

"Ain't I glad I'm out of the Wilderness," 

■ — an old edition, perhaps, revised and enlarged, with varia- 
tions and side- notes complete, rearranged especially for the 
drum corps of the Freedmen's Exodus Society. The drum- 
mers warmed up to their performance, and the melody be- 
came more intense. After they had played a short time there 
began to be a remarkable prevalence of headache, and then 
the audience began to ache all over. The commander was 
petitioned for mercy. The tenor became louder and shriller^ 
the bass deeper and heavier. The commander then deliber- 
ately but loudly ordered the music to face about and halt. But 
no command could be heard amidst "the clash of arms." 
Each burly son of Ham had now closed his eyes and nerved 
himself for the first grand crescendo. The result was inevit- 
able. If the soldiers waLed for the climax they would all be 
placed on the pension-list for broken ear-drums. There was 



CAMP-FIRE CHATS OF THE CIVIL WAR. 



43 



only one way out of the difficulty —that was past the guard. 
That individual, they found, had already fled, and the whole 
camp soon stampeded after him. When the drummers opened 
their eyes, after they had finished their selection, they looked 
about them, found nothing but darkness, and probably ad- 
fourned. 




-sp- 



CAMP-FIRE IV. 

BUTTERMILK WITHOUT MONEY, BUT NOT WITHOUT PRICE 

FREAKS UNDER FIRE " JOHNNIES " AND " YANKS " 

STOP SHOOTING TO SHAKE HANDS SOLDIERS AT THE 

-SOUTHERN 



,LL the veterans answered at roll-call this evening, as did 
all the visiting brethren — including the S. P. U. H. — 
except the drum corps of the Freedmen's Exodus So- 
ciety. No one asked any question, not caring even to call to 
mind the experience of the previous evening. 

Mr. John G. Morrison began to speak: 

"In the fall of 1863, our Regiment (the loist 111.) was 
transferred from West Tennessee to Bridgeport, Ala., and at- 
tached to the nth Army Corps. Supplies for the army at 
Chattanooga were at that time carried on mules from Bridge- 
port by a circuitous route along the north bank of the Ten- 
nessee River. To open up a shorter and better route, the nth 
and 1 3th Army Corps, not then reorganized into the 20th, 
were ordered to march across to Chattanooga. 

" On the second day's march a discussion arose in Com- 
pany D, as to which army then occupied Lookout Mountain. 
One man stoutly maintained that Rosecrans did not lose at 
Chickamauga, and to settle the matter, one of D's men broke 
ranks and ran up to a house, and politely asked a lady who 
was standing in the door, and -trying to feel that she wasn't 
subdued and never would be, whether there were any Confed- 
erates on Lookout Mountain. She replied very tartly that 
when he came back he might tell her. 

" The midnight fight in the valley, the battles of Mission 

44 



CAMP-FIRE CHATS OF THE CIVIL WAR. 



45 



Ridge and Lookout Mountain were soon fought, and after 
the terrible mid-winter march to the rehef of Knoxville, and 
a rest at Kel ley's Ferry, our regiment marched back over the 
same road through the valley, to Bridgeport. We had all of 
us forgotten the woman and her evasive answer, except the 
soldier who questioned her. As we passed the house, he again 
left the ranks and went up to the house, taking another com- 
rade and half a dozen canteens with him. 

"' Madam,' he said, making his best bow, 'I am going 
back now, and stopped to tell you that there is not a single 
Confederate on the mountain.' 

"'Clar out!' said the woman. 

"'Well, madam, I saw some very nice buttermilk when I 
was here before, and I thought I would bring my canteen 
along and have it filled.' 

*"Navvsir!'' growled the woman. 'I don't never give 
no Yankee no buttermilk o' mine.' 

" ' You seem to be decidedly in the negative, madam, but 
I'll fay you for the milk — you'll never have to give a Union 
soldier any buttermilk.' 

" With this assurance, the woman filled the canteens, in 
high hope that she would get some United States money, for 
Confederate scrip was already depreciating, notwithstanding 
the stringent laws in force against a discrimination in favor of 
United States money. 

"'How much are these worth? ' asked the soldier, putting 
the several canteens into his several pockets. 

" ' Two dollars apiece! ' said the woman. 

"' Ain't that pretty high? ' asked the soldier, fumbling in 
every pocket he had to find solne money. 

" ' Thought yer said I wouldn't have to give no Union sol- 
dier no buttermilk,' said the woman, surmising the true state 
of affairs. 

"'You will not,' said he soldier — 'I'll get the money of 



46 CAMP-FIRE CHATS OF THE CIVIL WAR. 

my comrade just out in the yard,' and he started out; with 
his hands he beckoned the comrade to go back toward the 
passing columns, while with his voice he called him toward 
the house. Of course the comrade was in a hurry to get 
back to the ranks, and the soldier with the canteens moved on 
alter him with apparent reluctance, leaving the woman stand- 
ing in her doorway watching her buttermilk disappear over 
the hill, her great expectation slowly changing into disap- 
pointment, and then disgust." 

When Mr. Morrison finished speaking Mr. Thain asked 
if the socict)' would like to be initiated into skirmishing, and 
the active business life of the line of battle. 

" Yes," was the reply, " it may be read with ravenous in- 
terest by the two-thousand-one-hundred-and-third generation 
hence." 

" Well, let us take Sherman's Atlanta campaign as the 
main basis of illustration; for the war was not conducted 
scientifically, and with absolute certainty of success, until after 
General Grant was placed in command of all the Union 
forces, and had arranged a concert of action between the 
East and the West. There is a completeness about the cam- 
paigns of 1864, which renders that year of the conflict an in- 
teresting study as illustrating the art of war. 

" Sherman's army when he began the Atlanta campaign, 
was 100,000 strong; Johnston's 60,000 strong, but he had the 
advantage of a friendly country in his rear, and the additional 
advantage of a succession of carefully fortified lines in the 
line of his possible retreat. A large force of negroes was at 
work all the while in his rear; and when he abandoned one 
line of works he had another to take shelter in. Sherman's 
advantage consisted in the fact that he could spare at least 
40,000 men to lap around the right or left of Johnston's posi- 
tion, and by threatening his communications compel him to fall 
back. Every direct attack made ' y Sherman failed, but the 



CAMP-FIRE CHATS OF THE CIVIL WAR. 47 

flank movement was always successful, though it had a de- 
moralizing effect on the Confederates, who thereby had to 
confess their weakness by falling back each time, and finally 
were shut up in Atlanta. 

" Having given this general outline of the way in which 
the campaign was conducted, let us now suppose that Sher- 
man is beginning to feel one of Johnston's strong posi- 
tions, for instance, the line including Kenesaw, Pine and Lost 
Mountains. But this is ticklish work, approaching a strong 
line in a country which is rough and hilly, and much of it 
heavily timbered. The enemy may sally out on us while we 
are forming our line, or before our front is protected by earth- 
works. Yet the Union soldiers are mighty diggers, and if 
the Johnnies as much as stop to tie their shoe strings before 
starting, they will find a line of works barring their advance, 
raised as if by magic. On the Atlanta campaign, the spade 
was mightier than the sw^ord. Our men did not need to be 
urged to fortify; the enemy's shell urged them in language 
which needed no interpretation. As soon as a line was 
formed, and arms stacked, they began to dig, almost as in- 
stinctively as a mole begins to burrow when placed on the 
ground. In every new deal that Sherman and Johnston 
made, spades were trumps, and as our boys knew how to 
play the game, we usually won. 

" It was amazing to see how quickly a line could be thrown 
up in that timbered country. Logs, rails, stumps, stones — any- 
thing which could form a slight protection, was piled along the 
regimental front, and inside of this a trench was dug, the 
earth being thrown outside to form a breastwork. In a few 
minutes it is strong enough to resist a musketry fire, and a 
sudden charge could be successfully repelled by the aid of this 
frail work. When there was no danger of immediate attack, 
or when this first breastwork became a part of the regular 
line of investure, a strong parapet was built, faced with logs, 



^|8 CAMP-FIRE CHATS OF THE CIVIL WAR. 

poles, or rails, perpendicular on the inside, and four or five 
feet high. The trench on the inside was then widened to 
from four to six feet, and deepened to two feet, the earth being 
thrown over in front again, and making a wall on the outside, 
four to six feet thick. The parapet was generally crowned 
with a head-log, a space being left between its under side and 
the parapet to fire through. The head-log rested on skids, 
which sloped off across the trench to keep the log from injur- 
ing the men, if displaced by a cannon-shot. These works were 
sometimes further strengthened by an abatis of tree tops, 
placed a number of rods in front, with their sharpened branches 
turned tow^ard the enemy. Through this an attacking column 
would find great diflficulty in making their way under fire. 
Such works could be held against almost any direct attack, as 
Sherman found to his cost in his unsuccessful charge on the 
Kenesaw line on the 37th of June. 

" The skirmish pit was much like the mainline in construc- 
tion, except that it was lighter and only twelve or fifteen feet 
long. The skirmish pits were placed as far in advance of the 
main line as the location of the enemy's pits would permit, 
the opposing skirmish lines often being uncomfortably near 
each other. 

" The establishment of a skirmish pit in- an exposed posi- 
tion, in the face of a watchful Confederate line, was a task re- 
quiring the wisdom of a serpent, the courage of a lion, and the 
building powers of a beaver. I distinctly remember one 
particular skirmish line in front of Johnston's Allatoona line of 
defense; and though the situation now presents itself to me in 
a somewhat ludicrous light, it was serious enough on Satur- 
day, the 28th of May, 1864. We went on the skirmish line 
before daylight, as it was in an open field in plain sight of the 
enemy's main line, and not more than 300 yards from their 
skirmish line. The particular post where I found myself was 
sheltered by two lengths of rail -fence in the shape of a letter 



fT* 







I 



liliih 






.Iif'r'i '1 



I'! '; ' ^il h: 




50 CAMP-FIRE CHATS OP THE CIVIL WAR. 

V, strengthened somewhat by additional rails. At first we 
confined our attention to the enemy's skirmish pits, and many 
sharp shots were exchanged. But along in the forenoon we 
became ambitious, and began tc ry the efiect of long-range 
shots on the main line. Directly in front of us was one of the 
enemy's batteries, and as we could now and then see a man 
not sheltered by the parapet, or an officer riding along on 
horseback, it amused us to see how our long-range shots 
would quicken their pace. Some of the shots must have taken 
effect, or, at any rate, they could bear our fire no longer, for 
about the middle of the forenoon that battery opened a terrible 
fire on our particular pile of rails. 

" We had thought that oar insignificance was our best pro- 
tection, but now the tables were sadly turned. We knew 
that the loose rails would aid in our destruction if a shot 
should strike them, but we clung to our fence corner, dread- 
ing the skirmish fire if we should leave it. 

" Serious as the situation was, a ludicrous feeling flashed 
through my mind for a moment as I looked around for a place 
to lie down. My comrades, including the lieutenant of tne 
guard, were piled together in the corner of the V, each try- 
ing to make himself as flat as — " [some of the sermons 
preached by the chaplains — the S. P. U. H. thought he said 
— as their great ears for once failed to catch the comparison ; 
but it might have been as flat as they lay when robbing hen- 
roosts while the property man was near. However, the 
society concluded, without any reflection upon the speaker, 
that posterity must necessarily suffer the loss of some eloquent 
points of history; otherwise the historian of three thousand 
years hence would have no ancient manuscripts to ponder 
over.] 

" The boys were so mixed together," continued the nar- 
rator, "that T could not distinguish one from the other. I 
lay down behind the pile, and wished myself behind the main 



I 



CAMP-FIRE CHATS OF THE CIVIL WAR. 



51 



line. Shell after shell shrieked over us so close that we could 
almost feel the wind of them, and one or two burst just be- 
hind the post, but nothing struck our pile of rails. 

" The fire from the enemy's batteries became so sharp that 
our batteries began to answer it, and this turned their atten^ 
tion from such small game to pay their respects to our main 
line. Other batteries began to join in, and as gun after gun 
awoke from both sides it seemed as if old Nick had let loose 
all his dragons. When the firing ceased we became badgers, 
one and all, and began to dig for dear Hfe. Bayonets, tin 
plates, pieces of rails — anything that could turn up earth, 
was used. 

" By-and-by, when the Confederate skirmishers were not 
alert, one of our number crept along, Indian-fashion, past a 
light growth of bushes to the next post to the right. He soon 
returned with a spade, and if that spade had been solid gold, 
handle and all, presented to our post for our sauciness in stir- 
ring up such a hub-bub, it could not have been received with 
greater delight. At first it was used with great difficulty, for 
to rise to one's feet, even in a stooping posture, v/as almost sure 
death from a rebel musket-ball. By slow degrees a shaft was 
sunk in the fence-corner, deep enough for a man to stand up- 
right, and by making frequent changes, that spade was so 
diligently used, that by the middle of the afternoon we had 
transformed our frail defense into a shot-proof redan. 

" Then we opened on that battery again, loading and fir- 
ing as fast as we could, and they opened on us more furiously 
than before, but we answered them shot for shot. We had 
one advantage, for, by watching the puffs of smoke from their 
cannon we could seek safety in the subterranean region of our 
little fort before the shot reached us. We could dodge their 
shots, but they could not dodge our musket-shots, which were 
imperceptible. They tried us with solid shot, then shell, then 
grape-shot; but all in vain. We " silenced" that battery, that 



52 CAMP-FIRE CHATS OF THE CIVIL WAR. 

is, they ceased firing because their shots were of no effect ; 
then we rested on our laurels. Those of my hearers who 
have never been in a battle may get some idea of the skirmish 
line of a great battle by multiplying many times the expe- 
rience just related. 

"The Atlanta campaign might be called a skirmish one 
hundred and twenty days long, rising now and then into a 
battle; for, from the time that we took the enemy's works at 
Tunnel Hill on May 7, until we parted company with 
Hood's army at Jonesboro, below Atlanta, the skirmish fire 
hardly ever ceased. 

" The two armies became familiar with each other on the 
skirmish line ; and familiarity bred rested. On the Kenesaw 
line the skirmishers began to parley with each other, and 
friendly meetings between the lines became frequent. 

" I happened to be on the skirmish line when the practice 
first began. One afternoon there was a pretty lively fire for 
awhile, and then a lull. It seemed as if both sides had 
become tired; and then the Johnnies hailed us thus: 

"' Hello, Yanks! Let up awhile. Stop firing, and send 
out two unarmed men half way, to talk with two of ours.' 

" ' Do you want to surrender? ' we asked. 

" ' No! Give us a rest, and we'll have a chat with you.' 

"'All right, Johnny; you do the same.' 

**A man from company A and myself started through the 
woods toward the rebel line, and before we had gone very 
far, we saw coming toward us two butternut-clad men, who 
were almost duplicates of Hercules. The rebs had not yet 
learned to trust our word, and so they had sent two men fa- 
mous for their fighting powers in a rough-and-tumble en- 
counter. I do not say that we had been selected for the same 
reason, though, in fact, my companion was a noted fist- 
fighter — the terror of the whole camp when he was 
intoxicated. 



CAMP-FIRE CHATS OF THE CiViL WAR. 53 

" These two tall men were brothers from Texas, but oir. 
meeting was so friendly that suspicion was disarmed at once, 
and we sat down for a talk. The first question of the John- 
nies' was: 

"'Ain't you 'uns most tired o' this thing?' 

« It was evident that they were ; but we told them that 
we had come to Dixie to see the thing through, and that 
when they were ready to say quit, and call us brothers under 
the Stars and Stripes, we would gladly go home. 

" ' But why have you 'uns come down here to take away 
our niggers ? ' 

" We assured them that such was not our object, and tried 
to enlighten them as to the cause of the war. They were 
very ignorant, and hardly knew what they were fighting 
for; but were wise enough to know that they were being 
beaten. They were anxious for some ' Lincoln coffee,' as 
they called it, and we gave them some from our haversacks. 
At this time the Johnnies were living on rye coffee, corn 
bread and bacon. 

" ' You Yanks drink Rio,' they said, * but we drink Ry-ef 

" After exchanging Northern papers for some of the 
wretchedly-printed sheets then published in the South, we 
parted company with our two tall Texan friends, and soon 
both parties were safe within their own lines. 

" Here is a sample of the newspapers published in the 
South in the latter part of the war," and the speaker held up 
a copy of the " Vicksburg Citizen," of July 3, 1863. 

It was an interesting relic. Stationery was somewhat 
scarce in Confederate society, and even in business circles, 
when this edition of the "Citizen" was printed. Every- 
thing available in the line of paper had been used in making 
government " scrip," so that there was little supply for the 
baser needs of civilization. However, the editor of the 
"Citizen" was enterprising, and would not suspend his pub- 



54 CAMf-FlRE CHATS OF THE CIVIL WAR. 

lication as long as anything like paper could be found with 
one white side to it. By the merest chance he obtained a 
quantity of fifth-grade wall-paper at a fabulous price, and at 
once proceeded to issue the " Citizen," only two days before 
the surrender of the city. It was a daily paper — daily when- 
ever the proprietor could find anything to print it on — and the 
copy exhibited was sixteen inches long by eleven inches wide, 
with four minion columns of war news quite clearly printed 
on the uncolored side. The coloring of the other side was a 
rough, gloomy green for the solid color, having a brown vine- 
like fiofure with a red flower for the ornamentation. It was a 
novel publication — a monument to the endeavor of the pro- 
prietor, who could in reality present his readers with a 
chromo this time — and only commemorates the extremities 
developed by war. 

The relic was passed around for the curious to examine, 
while the speaker continued: 

"As soon as we were safe in our own lines there would 
come a hail, * Look out, Yanks! we're going to shoot!* 

" ' All right, Johnny, pop away ! ' And for some time the 
skirmish fire would be kept up with unusual briskness, like 
children who break into an uproar after a period of enforced 
silence. 

"There was nothing malicious about it; indeed, there was 
very little personal malice at this time between the men of 
the two armies. We had learned to respect each other on 
many a well-fought field, and when olir men fell into their 
hands the regular soldiers treated them kindly. It was the 
v/retched State militia, home-j^uaius, and soldiers who had 
never seen a battle, who treated our prisoners so cruelly at 
A^ndersonville and other Southern prisons. 

" In concluding, I will offer a little incident which inspired 
the song, ' Hold the Fort.' The original was not veiy reli- 
gious, but in battle, under great excitement, men do and say 



CAMP-FIRE CHATS OF THE CIVIL WAR. 55 

things which would not be excusable in civil life. It was at 
the bloody battle of AUatoona Pass; and Sherman, fearing 
that General Corse, who held an important position, might 
wenl^en, dispatched him to 'hold the fort' at all hazards. To 
this General Corse replied : * I am short a cheek-bone and an 
ear, but can whip all h — 1 yet.' " 

" Your reference to the skirmish lines," said Gen. Ira 
J. Bloomfield, of the 26th Illinois, "reminds me of some of 
the freaks the boys committed at the siege of Atlanta. When 
the siege was in full blast, we moved our entrenchments to 
within fifteen or twenty paces of the enemy in many places, 
and the men resorted to all kinds of tricks and devices to get 
a good shot. One was to get a piece of looking-glass, and 
then turn a loaded gun-barrel down, pointed over the top of 
our works; and by lying down below it, and using the look- 
ing-glass, a soldier could sight his gun without exposing him- 
self at all. But a very ingenious contrivance was to hollow a 
conical minie-ball and fill it with powder, and then fit a 
percussion cap to the point of the ball, with an opening 
down to the powder. One man would load his rifle with 
this ball, and several of his comrades would stand with their 
weapons cocked, ready to fire. The man with the conical 
ball in his rifle would fire at a stump, fence-rail, or any solid 
substance that could be seen near the enemy's rifle pits. 
When this bullet struck, it would explode and sound as if 
some one just outside their works had fired a gun. This nat- 
urally would make them raise their heads to see what it 
meant. Then came the opportunity for the men in waiting 
to surprise their antagonists with the most effective shots, 
much to the gratification of our men, and the chagrin of the 
boys m gray." 



CAMP-FIRE V. 

A SURPRISE FOR THE JOHNNIES — WITH BANKS UP THE RED 
RIVER PRISON LIFE IN TEXAS SOLDIERS YET ON PA- 
ROLE — TROUBLE BETWEEN THE I3TH AND I9TH ARMY 
CORPS. 

fHE incidents related at the close of the last camp-fire, 
revived many another experience, and the roll-call was 
.^ scarcely finished before a comrade belonging to the looth 
Indiana besought that the following might be chronicled: 

" While at New Hope Church, Ga., we advanced oi.r 
lines each night, until our brigade — the second of the first di- 
vision of the 15th Army Corps — had advanced and entrenched, 
by actual count, to within 1 14 steps of the rebel works. The 
only guard duty we did was to make a detail of three men to 
each company to do camp guard at night, with instructions to 
watch very carefully, lest the enemy should surprise us wh'le 
it was dark. 

" We could plainly see the Confederate works during the 
day, and no man dare raise his head above the fortificat^'ons, 
lest he be a target for the watchful sharpshooters. 

" So on the 4th of June, 1864, Colonel Heath, of the looth 
Indiana, concluded to give the Johnnies a little surprise. He 
called on the Colonel of the 46th Ohio, and giving him the 
cue, they soon had everything in readiness. • The 46th Ohio 
being armed with the Spencer rifle (seven shooters), they 
were ordered to load, and every man be ready to fire at the 
sound of the bugle. The looth Indiana had orders to give the 
* Yankee yell ' at the first blast of the bugle. Soon all was 



CAMP-FIRE CHATS OF THE CIVIL WAR, 57 

in order, and the boys were eager for the work in hand. The 
bugle sounded the 'forward,' and the cheers of the looth 
Indiana followed. 

"The rebs, hearing the bugle and the shouting of the boys, 
concluded we were charging their lines, and sprang to their 
feet to meet us, thus exposing themselves. Then the 46th 
Ohio opened fire upon them with their Spencers, and it began 
to tell. The Johnnies quickly turned and sought cover, en- 
raged beyond expression, each cursing and swearing to the 
full extent of his blasphemous vocabulary. They heaped all 
sorts of abuse on us, and one fellow was particularly exas- 
perated. As he was going back, full of disgust, he faced 
about and yelled, at the top of his voice, ' Shoot away — you 
can't hit anything. You think you're mighty smart, but it's 
only another one of your darned Yankee nutmeg tricks.' A 
round of Yankee applause was followed by a volley, but the 
fellow got behind the works just in time to escape." 

Major J. M. McCuiloch, of the 77th Illinois, then asked if 
prison life in the South had been discussed at any previous 
camp-fire. Unfortunately he had not been present at any of 
the meetings, but would miss none of them hereafter. 

" Since you have mentioned the matter, we will hear 
from you first," said the commander. 

" Well, I am hardly prepared to speak impromptu," said 
the Major. 

"Major McCuiloch!" "Prison life!" "Major McCui- 
loch!" " Speech!" "Speech!" and other exclamations were 
heard from the auditors. 

" Well, if there is no escape, I will tell you of my expe- 
rience, not in Andersonville, for I was not there ; but there 
were other prison pens, and I served more than a year in one 
in Texas, which may not be altogether uninteresting to talk 
about. 

<* About the ist of March, 1864, ^^ '^^^ ^V ^°* ^^ l^'^^ *^^ 



58 CAMP-FIRE CHATS OF THE CIVIL WAR. 

expedition up Red River in Louisiana, under the command of 
General Banks. Tiie previous winter months had been occu- 
pied in preparation for the expedition, and on the 8th of 
March the best equipped and best clad army that I was with 
during my term of service, commenced a forward movement 
from Brashear City, Louisiana, and marched directly through 
to Alexandria without delay. This was also one of the best 
conducted marches. Many of the boys had desired to go 
with Sherman, but as they did not get their wishes, the trip 
up Red River was made more pleasant than usual. The 
column was in motion early in the morning, and went into 
camp early in the evening. No promiscuous foraging was 
indulged, but everything necessary was amply provided by 
detailed foraging parties, so that there was no necessity for 
the weary soldier to spend part of the night in getting some- 
thing fresh to eat. 

"We reached Alexandria on the 26th of March, and 
joined the main column of the expedition conducted by Gen» 
eral Franklin. One week later we reached Natchitoches 
(pronounced Nakitosh by the natives), where General Banks 
took command in person. On the morning of the 6th of 
April the column was again in motion toward Shreveport, 
the advance meeting with considerable opposition from the 
enemy. Our regiment was ordered to the front as skirmish- 
ers on the 8th, and about 3 o'clock p. m., after repeated 
skirmishes with the enemy (in one of which our Lieut.-Col- 
onel L. R. Webb was killed), we found them strongly posted 
to resist our further progress. A line of battle was formed by 
the advance troops, consisting of the 2d division of the 13th 
Army Corps and a few regiments of cavalry. 

"General Ransom, who commanded this section of the 
13th Army Corps, seeing the dangerous situation of the 
advance, asked permission to withdraw some distance to get a 
nctter position, but was ordered to hold his ground. The 



CAMP-FIRE CHATS OF THE CIVIL WAR. 59 

other division of our corps was three miles in the rear, and 
the 19th Corps, consisting of about ten thousand, was about 
eight miles, and a force of ten thousand under Gen. A. J. 
Smith, fully a day's march in the rear of that. Why we 
were thus scattered I never heard explained. The rebels, 
under Gen. Dick Taylor, to the number of fifteen or twenty 
thousand, seeing we would advance no further, and know- 
ing our scattered condition, commenced an attack upon us, 
and brought on a terrific engagement, afterward called the 
battle of Sabine Cross Roads, by our army, but Mansfield by 
the Confederates. 

" The center of our line held their ground manfully and 
did terrible execution in the ranks of the advancing foe, re- 
pelling three separate attacks; but the rebel line, being so 
much longer than ours, pressed the wings of our line back, 
and, before the center was aware of it, a line of rebels was 
formed in their rear. Being nearly out of ammunition, they 
submitted to the inevitable, and surrendered. This surrender 
included the 48th Ohio, the 19th Kentucky, and two com- 
panies from the right of our regiment, the 77th Illinois. 

" The retreating wings met the 3d division a short distance 
in the rear, and with them formed another line, but the same 
fate befel it. The 19th Corps being six or seven miles still 
further in the rear, the rebels met no further opposition until 
they encountered this corps well-formed in line of battle, be- 
hind which our retreating fragments found shelter. Flushed 
with victory the rebels rushed upon this new line of battle, 
but were repulsed with great slaughter, and retired. Dark- 
ness closed the scene. 

" Having escaped from the first line of battle, I formed 
with the second, and was there made a prisoner of war. I 
had often before felt, when entering a battle, that I might be 
killed or wounded, but I had never once thought of being 
captured. You can therefore imagine my consternation. 



DO C'AMF-FIKE CHATS OF THE CIVIL WAR. 

" The utter route of our army and the general demorali' 
zation which surrounded me, made me feel for the moment 
as if the whole United States had collapsed. I soon met Cap- 
tain White, of the Chicago Mercantile Battery, who had been 
acting as chief of artillery on the division commander's staff, 
and said to him in a low tone: 

" ' Captain, doesn't this beat anything you ever saw? ' 

" 'Oh, no! ' he replied, 'it's nothing to Shiloh! ' 

" He had been a lieutenant in Taylor's battery at tha. 
battle. 

" I then took courage and congratulated myself on the 
tht)ught that it was probably not so bad after all, and that 
while many of my comrades had ' bitten the dust,' I still had 
my life. But as I had never thought of being taken a pris- 
oner, nor of a prisoner's condition, a new, and what proved to 
be a fearful experience, now began to open up to me. I was 
taken with others to Mansfield, three miles distant, where we 
arrived after dark, and were confined in the court house all 
night. Those who had been captured earlier in the day were 
guarded in an open field about a mile from town. 

" During the night we saw sad evidence of the havoc we 
had created in the battle. It was told us that a Louisiana 
regiment of about 1,200, made up from that vicinity, had 
been cut to pieces; and the ambulances seemed to confirm 
the report, as a continual stream of dead and wounded came 
in during the whole of the night. Great lamentation was 
manifested. It was impossible for us to sleep, as there was 
scarcely more than standing room in the building. In the 
morning we were marched out of the town toward Shreve- 
port, and when a mile out our comrades, who had spent the 
night in the field, joined us and made a delegation of eleven 
hundred. We marched three abreast, with a row of mounted 
guards on each side, and a squad in front and rear. 

" After marching about sixteen miles we camped for the 



CAMP-FIRE CHATS OF THE CIVIL WAR. 6l 

night; and for the first time since our capture rations were 
issued to us — -consisting of corn meal and salt beef. Having 
no cooking utensils of any description, it was more than Yan- 
kee ingenuity could do to prepare much for eating; but we 
managed after this fashion: The meal was mixed on a rub- 
ber blanket, with water and a little salt from the beef barrel, 
and then spread on a piece of board and held to the fire to 
bake. The salt beef was cut in pieces and stuck on the end 
of a sharpened stick, then held in the blaze, and thus, during 
the night, we managed to partially stop the gnawings of 
hunger. After the second night, the guard arranged to do 
their cooking by detail during the day, giving us their utensils 
at night; and by cooking in turns all night, we managed to 
get our new fare into better shape. 

"Adverse news from the front during the first night caused 
our course to be changed the next morning toward Marshall, 
Texas, and on the fifth day after leaving Mansfield we passed 
through that town, which is a place of considerable size near 
the Louisiana line; thence directly west from Shreveport. The 
inhabitants of the town and vicinity had been informed that 
Gen. Banks' entire army had been captured and was coming. 
So the streets were lined with men, women, and children of 
the various shades of color from black to white, to see the 
Yankees. We were ordered to march two abreast, in order 
to make a longer column and a more impressive appearance. 
When about the center of the town we struck up our national 
war-song, ' The Union Forever,' and sung: 

" ' We are coming from the East and we're coming from the West, 
Shouting the battle cry of Freedom! 
And we'll hurl the rebel crew from the land we love the best, 
Shouting the battle cry of Freedom ! 

"'The Union forever! Hurrah, bojs, hurrah! 
Down with the traitors and up with the stars, 
While we'll rally round the flag, boys, rally once again. 
Shouting the battle cry of Freedom.' 



62 CAMP-FIRE CHATS OF THE CIVIL WAR. 

" While we were singing, some of the women tried to per- 
suade the commander of the guard to stop us, but he seemed 
to think it was our privilege, and paid no attention to their 
solicitations. In fact, the guard, who already had heard much 
of our singing, seemed to enjoy it, much to the chagrin of the 
siDCctators. We tried to make the best of our circumstances, 
and often sang by the way. On several occasions we passed 
by camps of negroes whose masters were taking them to the 
interior of Texas, in order to keep them out of reach of our 
army. On such occasions our boys would sing: 

" ' Ole massa run, ha! ha! 

De darkies stay, ho ! ho ! 
It must be now dat de kingdom's comin' 

And de year of Jubilo.' 

" We arrived in the vicinity of the prisoners' camp on the 
15th of April, having marched about 125 miles in seven days. 
The camp was situated about three miles east of Tyler, in 
Smith county, Texas, and called Camp Ford. It was in- 
closed by a stockade made of heavy timbers split in halves 
and firmly set in the ground on end. Originally it contained 
only three acres, but had been enlarged recently to about 
seven, in order to accommodate the new arrival. We re- 
mained where we camped for the night, until the afternoon 
of the next day, when we were moved inside the stockade. 
We had not expected a paradise, but we felt that after such 
accommodations as we had on the march — no shelter or 
blankets, except such as we bought or traded for — it would be 
a relief to get some place in which to lie down in shelter at 
night. Imagine our surprise when we came in sight of the 
camp. Inside the pen there were a few log-cabins and dug- 
outs, crowded together promiscuously in one corner. On the 
tops of these, and on the highest points, were gathered a 
motley crew of about six hundred, in very ragged clothing, to 



CAMP-FIRE CHATS OF THE CIVIL WAR. 63 

get a glimpse of the new-comers, about whom big tales had 
been told them. The remainder of the inclosure was a newly 
cleared piece of woodland, with nothing on it but stumps, a 
few brush heaps, and some old logs. Our hearts almost sank 
within us. But into the stockade we went, and on the unoc- 
cupied part were drawn up in parallel lines about twenty feet 
apart. Here we were counted and delivered to the com- 
mandant of the prison, one Colonel Allen, who addressed us 
in a few words, telling what he expected us to do, and 
closing with: 'Now, gentlemen, these are your quarters — 
make yourselves as comfortable as possible.' With nothing 
but the blue heavens for a covering and the naked earth for a 
bed, and nothing within reach but a few brush heaps, to be 
told to make ourselves comfortable, we thought was decid- 
edly cool, 

" The old prisoners gathered around us, anxious to hear the 
news from the outside world, and the remainder of the even- 
ing was spent in chatting and partaking of what the older in- 
habitants could spare from their scanty fare. The officers of 
our party were taken into the cabins of the officers already 
there, who shared with us their limited quarters; but the 
privates could only set fire to some of the brush heaps and 
logs, and huddle around them as best they could for the 
night. Many following nights were passed in the same 
way before shelter of any kind could be had. The offi- 
cers were first permitted to go out to the woods under guard, 
and cut and carry in timbers to build themselves quarters, 
which was accomplished in a few days. Then the men 
were allowed to go out in small parties, but the process was 
so slow that the best that could be done was to get poles and 
brush with leaves to make arbors for shelter from the sun by 
day and the dews by night. Some of the more energetic and 
persistent ones succeeded in getting a clapboard roof, but a 
great many spent most of the summer with nothing but brush 



64 CAMP-FIRE CHATS OF THE CIVIL WAR. 

roofs. Some made dug-outs, and covered with earth a place 
just large enough for two or three to sleep in. As winter ap- 
proached we were allowed to go out In greater numbers, 
under a strong guard, and carry timbers for more than half a 
mile. By Christmas most of the inmates had pretty fair 
quarters, and the camp assumed a better appearance. 

" Our rations were delivered in bulk to persons designated 
by ourselves to receive and distribute them, and consisted of 
corn meal, fresh beef and salt. A pint of corn meal and a 
pound of beef was our daily allowance per man, with suf- 
ficient salt to season them. Occasionally during the earlier 
part of our stay, rye was issued for coffee. Twice the corn 
meal failed for several days at a time, and whole corn shelled 
was issued instead. Some amusement was created during its 
delivery. When the wagon would make its appearance, the 
boys would start from different parts of the camp toward the 
delivery place, calling " Whoo-e-e! Whoo-e-e!" as though 
calling hogs to their feed. The corn, however, answered a 
good purpose, as it was a change, the boys making it into 
hominy. Our beef during the summer was passable^ but late 
in the fall it got so poor that it scarcely tasted like beef. A 
detail of our men butchered the beeves and quartered them, 
then the rebel guard picked out the best of the hind quarters, 
and the remainder was brought into the stockade. When 
the beef got so poor the guard complained to their officer, 
but no attention was paid to them. Finally, one day after 
drawing their portion, they carried it in procession to the 
woods, dug a hole, put it in, fired three rounds of musketry 
over it, then buried it. After that they got bacon, and in 
two weeks afterward bacon was issued to us regularly, a 
quarter of a pound being the allowance per man for a day, 
and we were rejoiced at tlie change. 

" No clothing was issued to us by the Confederate authori- 
ties during our imprisonment, except a few very coarse hats 



^G CAMP-FIRE CHATS OF THE CIVIL WAR. 

and shoes. I saw men go for months without a shirt to the! • 
back, and no covering but a pair of ragged pants or drawen . 
Lieut.-Colonel Leake, of Iowa, with about four hundred men, 
had spent the previous winter in the stockade, and were for- 
warded for exchange in July. When they arrived at vShreve- 
port the authorities became ashamed of their naked appear- 
ance, and offered to issue them clothing, but the brave Colo- 
nel promptly refused the offer, saying: 

" ' We will go into our lines in the same condition that we 
have been prisoners.' 

" When they arrived at New Orleans, those hardy and 
brave Iowa soldiers marched down Canal street, and up St. 
Charles, past the headquarters of General Canby, in almost a 
nude condition. This exhibition of rebel barbarity, together 
with the statements of the officers exchanged, stirred up our 
authorities, and started negotiations with the rebel authorities, 
which resulted in our receiving on the 2d day of October* 
from our authorities at New Orleans, 1,500 complete suits of 
United States clothing and 1,500 blankets. At the time the 
clothing was received there were about 3,300 prisoners, and an 
inventory of the camp, ordered by myself to ascertain the 
destitution before the issue of the new clothing, showed but 
1,500 blankets or parts of blankets in the stockade. The 
issue of this clothing, and especially the blankets, was truly a 
godsend to the camp, and gave it a very different appear- 
ance. On the 25th of January another batch of clothing of 
about 1,200 suits arrived from the same source, and this sup- 
plied our wants fairly during the remainder of our imprison- 
ment. From the first of our imprisonment, rumors of ex- 
change were kept afloat, and hopes of getting free never 
seemed more than a month or six weeks ahead. While thi^ 
was probably done by the rebels to keep us from escaping, it 
answered a good purpose in keeping us hopeful. Many, how 
ever, grew restless, and made the attempt to exchange them- 



CAMP-FIRE CHATS OF THE CIVIL WAR. 6j 

selves. Plans of escape were numerous. The digging out 
process was resorted to, but did not succeed, although one 
hole was made for more than 150 feet, and had reached the 
outside before discovery. Bribing the guard was done in 
many instances, forged passes in others, and quite a number 
were taken out in the dirt cart that removed tlie rubbish from 
the camp. When this was found out, the boy who drove the 
cart was suddenly relieved of his position, and each load 
thereafter was probed with swords or bayonets. 

" The greatest difficulty in escaping was after we were 
outside. With three hundred miles between us and the near- 
est point in our lines, every white man between eighteen and 
sixty years a soldier, and packs of bloodhounds kept for the 
purpose which could take a trail twenty-four hours old, it was 
almost impossible to get through. Yet quite a number suc- 
ceeded. But the majority were recaptured, brought back 
and at first severely punished. Captain Reid, of a Missouri 
regiment, was ordered to stand on the head of a barrel bare- 
headed and barefooted in the hot sun eight hours a day for 
two weeks. Some were tied up by the thumbs; others stood 
on a stump cut with a right and leftscarf for two hours at a 
time, with a guard standing by who had orders to shoot if a 
foot was lifted. Those who tried it said it was exceedingly 
severe. 

" One of the hardest cases of failure I remember was that 
of Major Bering and Lieutenant Srofe, of the 4Sth Ohio. They 
had been out twenty-one days, and were within three days' 
travel of our lines when recaptured. On their way back they 
met the rest of their regiment going forward for exchange, 
but were not permitted to go with i^;, and thus endured six 
months more imprisonment for their effort to free themselves. 

« The devices to while away time while prisoners* 
were many and varied. Chess was the principal game, and 
the demand for chessmen created quite a business for a former 



68 CAMP-FIRE CHATS OF THE CIVIL WAR. 

prisoner who had erected a turning lathe. The games of 
checkers, cribbage and cards, were also prominent. Then we 
had the gambler with his chuck-a-luck board and keno bank, 
which relieved many a poor fellow of what little cash he had 
brought with him. The banker was there to exchange 
greenbacks for Confederate money or specie. At our en- 
trance Confederate money was ten to one in greenbacks, and 
gradually increased to twenty, thirty, forty and sixty, and for 
some months before our imprisonment closed, it was entirely 
defunct. Specie took its place in trade with the outside. Our 
specie cost us on an average from eight to ten dollars in 
greenbacks to one In gold or silver. I bought flour at the 
rate of six dollars per hundred pounds in specie, when each 
specie dollar cost us ten dollars in greenbacks. We also had 
the baker who sold biscuits at twenty-five cents apiece, and 
sweet potato pies for one dollar. The barber, the tailor, and 
the shoemaker plied their avocations, and many of the prison- 
ers manufactured combs, pipes, rings, and trinkets in abund- 
ance from the horns of the slaughtered cattle. Violins and 
banjos were made, the strings being taken from the sinews of 
the beeves, so that, notwithstanding the solitude of the place, 
we had music and dancing during the long winter evenings. 
The religious element was also strongly manifested. A 
Bible class was held every morning in good weather, and a 
prayer meeting every evening. Public services were held on 
the Sabbath, at first by captured chaplains, and after they 
were released, by laymen. On two occasions the chaplain of 
the guard preached to us, and was listened to attentively by 
an audience of at least one thousand. He exhibited surprise 
at the result, but I told him we were at least partially 
civilized. 

" Yet thieves and the lower classes of humanity were 
there also, and human nature was exhibited in lower phases 
than I ever saw it before. A few thieves, who were at one 



CAMP-FIRE CHATS OF THE CIVIL WAR. 69 

time caught in the act, were punished by being dipped in the 
sinks by the exasperated crowd. 

" We had four different commandants while I was there. 
First, Colonel Allen, a Kentuckian, who wore the uniform of 
a United States officer of the line, when he wanted to appear 
well. He said he could sometimes wish we would all find 
Southern graves. The next was Colonel Sweet, who was at 
one time a resident of Chicago. In conversation he told me 
he did not want a Republican government —that it was noth- 
ing but a 7nob^ and the will of the majority was the worst 
tyrant on earth. The next was Colonel Brown, commander 
of a regiment of what appeared to be F. F.'s, of Texas. He 
had been in the Texan war, and a prisoner in Mexico; and 
although he was one of the roughest men I ever met, he had 
a heart in him, and did many things for our comfort, when 
suggested to him. The last was Lieut.-Colonel Jamison, who 
had been wounded in the army of Virginia, and was now 
given command of a regiment of home guards. This man, 
while one of the most bitter of rebels, was gentlemanly, and 
used more leniency than any of his predecessors. 

" When the spring opened the boys inaugurated a scheme 
to get some fresh vegetables for summer use. Captain Watt of 
the 1 30th Illinois, an old man, was granted the privilege of 
taking out a few men on parole of honor to make a garden 
in a field near by, and after fencing a lot was promised a mule 
and plow. He failed to get the mule, but took out ten Yan- 
kees and hitched them to the plow, and did good execution. 
Before we left, he and others had the pleasure of eating some 
vegetables of his own raising. And thus Colonel Jamison, 
while he could do but little for us with the means under his 
control, was disposed to let us do for ourselves many things 
which benefited us. 

" Our knowledge of the outside world came mainly 
through the Houston ' Daily Telegraph,' which was sent to 



70 CAMP-FIRE CHATS OF THE CIVIL WAR. 

Captain Crocker, a gunboat-man, by a friend; and also from 
new prisoners. We received no mail from our line for about 
five months, and after that probably once a month. The 
Christian Commission sent us a box of books from New 
Orleans at one time, which was greatly prized. 

" Our prison was watered by a spring which rose in one 
corner of the stockade, and was sufficient, most of the time, 
for drinking and cleansing purposes, but in their dejected 
condition many made poor use of it. The atmosphere of 
the stockade during the late summer months became almost 
unbearable, from a bad arrangement of our sinks; but a 
new person being put in command of the inside about the 
1st of October, made suggestions which the commandant 
allowed him to carry out, and relieved us ever afterward. He 
gave us a fine ball ground which was well occupied and 
proved a blessing. 

" We were guarded by a cordon of guards outside the 
stockade, who had orders to shoot any prisoner who came 
nearer than ten feet to the stockade. In a number of 
cases men were shot who neither violated the rule, nor 
showed any intention of doing so. The guards generally 
were not hostile to us, and in very many cases friendly; but 
there were sons of Belial among them who took advantage 
of their position to immortalize themselves by killing a Yan- 
kee; yet the officers gave us no relief. 

" The mortality of prison life was varied, some regiments 
and squads losing one-fourth, some one-third, and in one in- 
stance one-half their number, while in others scarcely any died. 
So that while the treatment was inhuman and will always be 
a foul blot on the Confederate record, yet my observation 
was that the disposition, character, and habits of the men had 
a great deal to do with the mortality of prison life. The 
greatest number in the prison at one time was about 4,700, 
and that was reduced by various exchanges to 1,700 when the 



CAMP-FIRE CHATS OF THE CIVIL WAR. ^I 

camp was broken up. We left 282 dead on a hill opposite 
the stockade, which was neatly fenced with post and rail by a 
squad of our own men before we left. 

" Thirteen months had passed since we entered the stock- 
ade, and now the end approaches. News had been received of 
the surrender of Lee and Johnston, and we knew the time 
for our departure must be near. The paroling officer, whom 
we were always glad to see, came with the news that we 
were all to be sent home. I shall never forget my feelings 
and emotions, as I reveled in them the whole of the follow- 
ing night without any sleep. The next day we were paroled 
for exchange, as a mere form on their part. We had the no- 
toriety of being the last prisoners held by the defunct Confed- 
eracy, and i^yoo of us are yet on parole for exchange. The 
next night the militia who had been guarding us for several 
months packed up their traps and left for their homes, leav- 
ing us but a few regular soldiers, who did not pretend to 
guard us further. On the 17th of May, 1865, we started on 
the march for Shreveport, 120 miles distant, where we ar- 
rived through considerable trial and suffering on the 2 2d. 
Thence we took boats down Red River to its mouth, and on 
the 27th glided safely into the father of waters, once more 
under the protection of the old flag." 

" The reason the troops were scattered so at Sabine Cross 
Roads," said Mr. Arnold, of the 23d Wisconsin, " was this 
fact: In the final arrangement after the endless reorganizing 
that followed the Vicksburg campaign, the 13th and 19th 
Army Corps were set off together. The boys of the 19th 
had not seen quite such hard times as the 13th boys, and had 
better clothes. Some of the soldiers from Illinois regiments 
at this time were wretchedly clad, which condition, of course, 
they themselves could not remedy. Thinking to show oflf a 
little, a few of the 19th boys began to call their Illinois com- 
rades rag-a-muffins, threadbare guerillas, etc. This wounded 



72 CAMP-FIRE CHATS OF THE CIVIL WAIl. 

the pride of the Sucker State soldiers, who felt that such epi- 
thets were unmerited, and they replied that if they had had 
no clothes at all, they could out-fight the 19th Corps on the 
stormiest day of the war. The remarks were soon current, 
and the feeling spread among the respective corps, until the 
whole was leavened. For a time it was thought that there 
would be business right there and then; but the commanders 
kept the corps camped separately until the ill-starred breeze 
blew over, and thus saved a possible disgrace to both corps. 
But this, I believe, was the reason that the 13th and 19th 
Corps could not be kept within six or eight miles of each 
other for awhile." 

The above explanation was heard with considerable in- 
r.-rest, and then the camp-fire adjourned. 




CAMP-FIRE VI. 




-THE HORRORS 
OF VALLEY FORGE REPEATED BULLETS AND ETI- 



ILLIONS of readers of the records made by the So- 
clety for the Preservation of UnpubHshed History 
S^^ will fully understand at the first glance the exact and 
practical significance of the compound word which introduces 
this camp-fire ; but that it may be intelligible to the million- 
and-first student of history, and that it may be one more fact 
put on record for the benefit of unlearned posterity, the So- 
ciety hereby gives to the world the subjoined etymological and 
historical conclusion, obtained at great outlay of money and 
sacrifice of health in the research, and great delay in the pro- 
ceedings of the chats. 

As has been communicated in the rhapsody just got rid 
of, " slap-jacks " is a compound word. It is compound not 
only in form, but in meaning; for the material which entered 
into the preparation of " slap-jacks " consisted of almost any 
powdered substance from brick-dust up to crushed saw-logs, 
the series including wheat, oats, corn, horse-feed, " wood, hay, 
stubble," and so forth. The word is also hybrid, being 
wrenched from the literature of two separate and distinct 
races of humanity; and a mongrel of the ages, as it is an off- 
spring of two classical developments which were parted by 
a period of two thousand years. This is believed to be the 
history of the word, and the following is the etymology: 
"Slap-jacks" is derived from the Greek BdAAw, hurl^ hit/ 

73 



74 CAMP-FIRE CHATS OF THE CIVII^ WAR. 

or, the Anglo-Saxon strike (see Webster's Unabridgfed Dic- 
tionary, p. 1308, col. i), hence, Anglo-American sla-p^ and 
from the German yohn^ hence the Anglo-American jack^ 
which was in its primitive use, a proper noun, and traces of 
that use still linger in the dialect of the marine corps of the 
day; but from its symphony and the ease of its application 
it came to have a variety of meanings. From this it will be 
observed readily that "jacks" was just the word to com- 
bine with "slap " in order to make " slap-jacks." 

" Slap-jacks " was always used in the plural, owing to 
a difficulty which arose in their manufacture. The pulver- 
ized material, usually corn meal or flour, which was the prin- 
cipal ingredient, was placed on a rubber blanket, or in any 
convenient small cavity — sometimes the end of a hollow log 
— and then (the other ingredient, water, was poured into it, 
and a mush made. Salt was sometimes added, when the sol- 
diers had it, but it was not necessary. A handful of this mush 
was then suddenly put against the side of a board, and placed 
near the camp-fire to brown, or at least to dry out. The 
mush was called " jack " and the operation of placing it on 
the board was called "slap;" but just as the consummation 
was being devoutly carried out, some of the " jack " would 
slip through the fingers of the slapper, fall to the ground, and 
make ijiore than one " slap-jack." Again, after the mixture 
was on the board near the fire, part of it would slip down the 
tilted edge of the board, and become plural once more. So 
that it was not possible to manufacture "slap-jacks " in the 
singular, and the use of the word in that number became 
obsolete. 

It is hoped that, after the foregoing elaborate treatise on 
the language of the army, the Society for the Preservation of 
Unpublished History will not have to explain that " slap- 
jacks " is the military word for pan-cakes. The following 
incident, related by F. O. White, Company A, Cavalry, 36th 



CAMP-FIRE CHATS OF THE CIVIL WAR. ^C 

Illinois, may give the student some Idea of this article of 
army diet: 

« It was near Keatsville, Mo., just before the battle of 
Pea Ridge. Many of our boys were expert bookkeepers, 
and when they passed a country store, they usually took an 
inventory of the stock on hand, though they were never very 
careful whether they left anything in the store. 

" We finally came to a store which had drugs on one side 
and groceries on the other; so we made a good haul. We 
got plenty of flour and other material for « slap-jacks,' includ- 
ing some saleratus, as we thought; but to make sure of it, we 
passed it to one of the boys who knew something about 
chemistry, for him to analyze. He assured us that we were 
right; so we felt a glow of satisfaction that we were to have 
* slap-jacks ' that evening with saleratus in them. 

" We went into camp and made up a large quantity of 
them, but as they did not get very light, we thought that the 
cook had put too much saleratus in; yet we would not allow 
that to make any difference, as we had had no saleratus in our 
' slap-jacks ' for a long time, and could tolerate a goodly dose. 
They were served up in good style, and the boys ate plenti- 
fully of them. Soon, however, the boys began to leave camp, 
one at a time; then they went by twos and threes, and finally 
the camp was nearly deserted, almost the entire number 
having been attacked with sudden illness. Alas! all who 
had partaken of the delicious but traitorous * slap-jacks ' were 
now compelled to play the part of artesian wells — the cakes 
had begun to rise! In the morning the suspicious saleratus 
was taken to a reliable chemist, who found that it was tartar 
emeticP 

This incident was followed by one from a soldier of Com- 
pany C, 2ot:h Illinois: 

" While on the march near Rolla, Mo., our rations ran 
short, and Lieutenant Moore, of our company, picked up about 



76 CAMP-PIRE CHATS OF THE CIVIL WAR. 

100 pounds of new buckwheat flour. He carried it more than 
two miles, and meeting Lieutenant Hall, gave him an invita- 
tion to call at headquarters for supper that evening, and they 
would feast on buckwheat cakes. The army had gone into 
camp, and Lieutenant Moore delivered the flour to the cook, 
with instructions to make up a good supply of cakes, as he 
expected Lieutenant Hall to sup with him. 

" The cook proceeded to mix the cakes, applying the 
necessary seasoning (all he had), and the supper was soon 
ready. Lieutenant Hall arrived, and the cakes were brought 
before the host and his guest. The guest was the first to par- 
take of the delicacy, and after he had waited until the host 
had tasted it, said : 

"' Is this the buckwheat you carried two miles?" 

" * Yes,' said Lieutenant Moore ; ' tastes rather queer, 
doesn't it?' 

" ' I am quite of your opinion,' replied Lieutenant Hall, 
'as it is nothing in the world but plaster-of-Paris.' 

" Lieutenant Moore declared that it was no joke, and this 
assurance was made doubly sure by the cook, who just then 
made his appearance and said: 

"' Mars' Cap'n, thought dat risin' didn't take efFec' in 
dat buckwheat jes right, ha! ha! ha!' Exit cook, right; 
Lieutenants Hall and Moore, left." 

This disclosure put the camp-fire attendants into a merry 
mood, and the regular order of business was proceeded with, 
Gen. Ira J. Bloomfield, of the 26th Illinois, speaking: 

" After the battle of Chickamauga we came up the river 
from Vicksburg to Memphis, and marched across the country 
to Chattanooga just in time to take part in the battle of Mis- 
sion Ridge, on the 25th day of November, 1863. The next 
morning we pursued the Johnnies to Ringgold Gap, and then 
turned up the Tennessee River to the relief of Burnside, who 
was penned up in Knoxville by Longstreet. 



CAMP-FIRE CHATS OF THE CIVIL WAR. 7^ 

" We had left all our baggage-wagons and supplies be- 
hind, and as we went up the Tennessee Valley we lived off 
the country, having foraging parties out ahead of us to collect 
provisions from the houses, and to grind the wheat and corn 
in the numerous mills. Details of soldiers kept the mills run- 
ninof all nio^ht. 

" I never saw greater manifestations of loyalty in my life 
than were shown by the people of East Tennessee. All the 
able-bodied men were in the army, but the women and chil- 
dren would stand at the roadside and say to us: 

" ' Go to the house and take all we have. We have friends 
where we can get more.' One woman, when she saw the 
Union troops, shouted: 

" ' Glory to God! I knew you would come! I have two 
brothers in the Union army, and I wish I had forty more.' 

"We lived well going up toward Knoxville, but when we 
came back, a few weeks later, it was hard foraging. One 
night at the Hiawassie we had nothing to give the men but 
wheat bran that we had left in the mill there when we v^ent 
up. Next morning, as we sat upon our horses and the men 
filed out into the road to resume the march, Private Lemmon, 
of Company D, a comical genius, who was always playing 
some kind of a joke, cried out: ' Colonel! colonel! are you 
going to issue us oats in the sheaf to-night?' 

" Most of the time during our trip up the Tennessee River 
that fall the weather was fine, and except when out of food, we 
got along splendidly, but being so long without a change of 
clothing, officers as well as men became infested with vermin, 
so that when a halt was made every one must needs seize the 
opportunity to relieve himself of such forbidding intruders. 

" Many of the men suffered greatly for tobacco. One 
night, near Marysville, I heard of a tobacco factory about six 
miles off from our line of march. I sent a lieutenant and a 
squad of men to bring in a supply, and the next day about 



75 CAMP-FIRE CHATS OF THE CIVIL WAR. 

to o'clock they overtook us with a wagon-load of * Silver 
Heels' tobacco, which we distributed to the men. Many a 
poor soldier was made happy that day, and the effects of the 
tobacco could be seen in the livelier step on the march and in 
the renewed joking and laughter. 

" The weather remained fine until within two days' march 
of Chattanooga, when it suddenly turned cold. The ground 
froze, and ice formed on the streams and along the road. The 
long march from Memphis to Chattanooga, and from there 
up to Knoxville without supplies, had worn out the shoes of 
the men so that when the cold set in many of them were bare- 
footed, and had to make the last day's march in that condition 
over the ice and frozen ground. Their feet were so lacerated 
that we sent them from Chattanooga to Bridgeport, down the 
Tennessee River, in an open scow. That was the day before 
Christmas, and the suffering of those poor fellows with their 
sore feet and the exposure to the cold winds in their open boat, 
was sad indeed. Their feet became so inflamed and sore that 
when they got back to Springfield, 111., Jan. 22, 1864, on vet- 
eran furlough, many of them were unable to wear shoes, hav- 
ing their feet bundled up in old rags. I never expected to 
see the horrors of Valley Forge or anything akin to it, but 
what I have related is only a faint picture of what those 
poor soldiers suffered. 

" While speaking about feet, I have been reminded of a 
state of affairs that came about at the close of the war. In 
the spring of 1865, ^^ ^^^ grand review at Washington, a 
number of my men were without shoes, but then the weather 
was warm, and it caused no suffering. The long march from 
Savannah, Ga., up through the Carolinas, and thence, via 
Richmond, to Washington, had worn out their shoes, and 
when we stopped at Alexandria, Va., to refit, I could not 
find with any of the quartermasters shoes large enough to fit 
eight or ten of my men. They had not calculated on supply- 



CAMP-FIRE CHATS OF THE CIVIL WAR. 79 

ing our big Western boys, and had neither Nos. ii nor I3. 
I told the men that tiiey need not take part in the grand re- 
view. But they wanted to be tliere, and did actually march 
down Pennsylvania Avenue barefooted, but with steady step, 
l.ceping time to the music of the Union. 

" To show you how tough and hard these men were after 
their long marches, sieges, and battles, I must give you a little 
incident that occurred near Mount Vernon. We had turned 
aside there to visit the tomb of Washington. While march- 
ing along one day near a small town called Dumfries, where 
a bright little stream ran across the road to empty itself into 
the Chesapeake Bay, we came to a narrow foot-bridge 
which spanned it. Our usual marching order was in a column 
of four front, but the bridge was so narrow that we had to 
undouble, which caused some little delay in the march. While 
sitting on my horse waiting for the crossing, I heard some 
angry words, and turned just in time to see one man strike 
another a terrible blow across the face with his musket, 
tumbling the latter off the foot-bridge into the water below. 
I rode back to see about caring for the injured man, but be- 
fore I could reach him he picked up his knapsack and gun, 
and took his place again in the ranks as if nothing had hap- 
pened. The next morning when I went out to look after 
him, the only signs left of the blow was a slight black spot 
under each eye. Such a blow across the face of a civilian 
would have laid him up for a month; but these men were 
tough and hard, for they had been brought down to solid 
fighting weight by long service in the open field." 

General Bloomfield, who now depends on his legal skill 
for his rations, then informed the hearers that he could not be 
with them hereafter, as he was about to take command of a 
relief expedition in a divorce suit; but, whether it was apropos 
or not, he would relate one more incident to show that bullets in 
war often become ungraceful and over-step the rules of etiquette. 



8o CAMP-FIRE CHATS OF THE CIVIL WAR. 

" A volley of musketry has very little respect," he said, 
" for titles or rank in army society ; and it is generally true 
that there are soldiers in both opposing armies who aim at 
sashes and badges. 

" On the morning of the battle of Mission Ridge, Col. 
Timothy O'Meary, of the 90th Illinois, came into line of 
battle wearing a blue flannel suit and a bright red sash 
around his waist. Col. John Mason Loomis, the brigade 
commander, warned him of the danger, saying: 

" ' Colonel, we have to go down over that open field, and 
the hill on the other side is full of sharpshooters. Your sash 
will furnish a good mark for them! ' But the gallant colonel 
only smiled and held up a picture of the Virgin Mary that he 
always wore suspended by a cord around his neck, replying: 

" ' They cannot hurt me while I have this.' A few min- 
utes later he lay weltering in his blood, mortally wounded by 
a rifle ball through his left side, just below the heart." 

Doubtless this incident will remind the veterans of 186 1- 
'65 of whole bookfuls of similar happenings. It reminded 
Maj. M. B. Parmeter, of the 77th Illinois, of one, which 
must be prefaced with an explanation: 

There was a type of combatant in the North during the 
war known as " copper-head," the more virulent class of 
which were members of the " Knights of the Golden Circle;" 
the milder developments were less haughty, and were some- 
times known as " plain copper-heads." But it is to the good 
feeling of all who stood by their country in the hour of her 
need, the S. P. U. H. included, that this entire type of citi- 
zens was limited, though the epithet was applied to many 
without desert. 

It must not be understood by the term " combatant" that 
the main pillars of the K. of the G. C, with their adherents, 
w^re soldiers; for they kept as far to the rear as possible. 
They were combatants in everything except business at the 



CAMP-FIRE CHATS OF THE CIVIL WAR. 8l 

front, and lacked the first principles of soldiership — patriotism 
and moral courage. They combated the policy of war from 
innate cowardice, more than from their love of peace; they 
decried emancipation because their opponents upheld it; op- 
posed the government because it was not under their own 
direction. When the last call for troops was made, they 
were in sore lament. Already there were nearly a mil- 
lion soldiers in the field (and this was a thrust at all 
soldiers) — every man who became a soldier, and was de- 
tailed to forage, was no better than a thief, they said. Think 
of it — a million thieves turned loose upon the unprotected 
citizens of the countr}^! O tempora I O mores ! How homely 
to these " unprotected citizens " was the beautiful picture of 
the great concourse of a nation's children scattering to their 
peaceful homes across broad prairies, over mountains and 
through glens, to plow, preach, and pound anvils! 

But there came a day when the clatter of their loose 
tongues was hushed. No more did they stand behind a tree 
and demand jDcace. For then it was that their great relative. 
Uncle Sam, made a suggestion in the form of a draft that all 
his able-bodied male relations over twenty-one years of age 
and under forty-five, should come to his assistance at once. 
But now was " the winter of their discontent." They dis- 
claimed all kinship. They sought " British protection.'' 
Their able bodies began to pedestrianize, and did not cease 
that operation until they had found a home in Canada. Like 
other fractions of humanity, when a relative is in affluence he 
is very dear to them; but place him in durance vile, and they 
seem like residents of Neptune. When the tills of the nation 
are overflowing with the golden coin, each of the former "un- 
protected citizens " is a noble foster of the " best government 
God ever gave to man;" but let the Executive call for needed 
service, and they deny their allegiance — vile treason sits on 
manhood's throne! 
6 



82 CAMP-FIRE CHATS OF THE CIVIL WAR. 

With the foregoing revery rehearsed, Major Parmeter's 
remarks may be better appreciated: 

" It was just before the capture of Vicksburg, and the 
draft had just come into full blast. The majority of the 
Peace Faction at the North had either become quiet or gone 
on an expedition to Labrador, or in that direction. At any 
rate, they were not very boisterous around their former neigh- 
borhoods. Some of them went South, but not for the pur- 
pose of joining the army. 

' Among the latter was a physician from my old home who 
was apparently well read, but nevertheless was a mild cop- 
per-head. It made him nervous to see so many of the boys 
going off to the war, and he took it upon himself to act as a 
sort of missionary for their return. He seemed especially in- 
terested in a young fellow by the name of Buckingham, and 
came to Vicksburg to persuade the young man with others to 
return home. 

" But no persuasion for Buckingham ; he was too enthusi- 
astic. The doctor remained several days, and as he became 
bolder and found more old acquaintances, he began to get 
nearer to the front. One day he came out on skirmish line, 
where several of the home boys were, and began his mission- 
ary work, talking about the old times at home. Pretty soon 
the Johnnies opened fire on us, and the skirmishers began to 
seek shelter. Having had considerable experience in the busi- 
ness, the boys were expert in getting behind the works, but 
the doctor was left out. A spent ball just then grazed his 
clothes, and, with a look of fright and surprise, he ran for the 
works, exclaiming: 

" ' Why, I didn't suppose they would shoot a citize7iP 

" ' Yes, sir,' said one of the boys, ' shoot you as soon as 
any other copper-head — bullets are no respecters of persons." 

With the last two incidents to show that the etiquette of 
bullets is yet unwritten, the camp-fire adjourned. 



CAMP-FIRE VII. 

A BANQUET TO THE S. P. U. H. " S. 

POSITION OF THE TERM, AND SOME REMINISCENCES FOR 
ILLUSTRATION. 

jRDER ! " said the commander, as the tattoo sounded, and 
the bugle came to its rehef; but the bugle was hoarse, 
and the noise which it made was akin to that of a 
masculine cat in distress, in the little hours. The boys all 
laughed, but the commander rapped on a log with his musket, 
and the rattle of the bayonet commanded peace. 

Then he said, " Comrades, I have been for sometime an- 
ticipating a feast on the rare old dish of S. B., and hard-tack. 
Let's build up the fire, satisfy our hunger, and give the S, P. 
U. H. a banquet." 

Accordingly, more sticks and tree-boughs were placed on 
the fire, and the preparations proceeded. AV^hile the work was 
going on, the Societv for the Preservation of Unpublished 
History ascertained that " S. B." meant that particular part 
of swine anatomy which, with the exception of the feet, is 
nearest the earth. The civil name for it was " salt bacon;" 
later changed to " breakfast-bacon," while the designation on 
the social menu is " fat of pork." This abbreviation, how- 
ever, was applied to more than one army delicacy. It some- 
times signified "soaked beans," sometimes " salt beef;" but 
more frequently was given to a very choice dish, made from 
hard-tack which had been carried on a long march through 
the rain, then soaked in river water during the night, with 
several changes of the water, and fried for breakfast. 

83 



84 CAMP-FIRE CHATS OF THE CIVIL WAR. 

" Hard tack," the S. P. U. H. learned, was a kind of 
bread, light in color, which could not be affected by age. In 
size, shape and durability, it was similar to the sections of a 
slate roof. 

Meantime the Society for the Preservation of Unpublished 
History sat by with great dignity, full of high satisfaction 
that its members were soon to be banqueted and toasted. 
When the coffee and eatables were ready, the veterans began 
without ceremony, in the fashion a la if-I-don't-get-my-share 
pretty-soon-somebody-else- will; and before the S. P. U. H. 
could come to a clear understanding of the situation, and se- 
cure the attention of the veterans, there was not enough left 
for one meal for a ghost. When the food had all disap- 
peared, the boys perceived that the S. P. U. H. had been 
forgotten. Many apologies were offered, but no hard-tack 
nor S. B. Sic vita militaris est. 

Then the national air was sung: 

(Tune — America.) 

Mv rations are S. B., 
Taken from porkers three 

Thousand years old ; 
And hard-tack cut and dried 
Long before Noah died, — 
From what wars left aside 

Ne'er can be told. 

There were originally three stanzas to this hymn, but after 
it was sung, while being handed across the fire to the S. P. U. 
H., two stanzas fell into the blaze and were consumed. The 
society now has the ashes of the sacred paper in its museum. 

Mr. George Justice, of ComjDany H, First Battery i8th 
U. »S. Infantry, then remembered an experience which simul- 
taneously illustrates three things : The craving of the boys for 
fresh meat, the sincerity of Gen. Geo. H. Thomas, and the 
able discipline he imposed. 



h6 CAMP-FIRE CHATS OF THE CIVIL WAR. 

" I participated in one little experience which I have never 
related, and have never heard told. When the 14th Army 
Corps laid at Stephenson, Ala., in 1863, General Thomas issued 
orders to the effect that he did not want any foraging; but 
despite such orders from as good a man as ever commanded 
a soldier, there were some who disobeyed them. We had 
been without fresh pork for some time, and my partner, James 
D. Killdow, and myself, concluded we would have some. So 
one afternoon we started out; but we did not have to go very 
far before we spied a porker that would weigh about 200 
pounds, and we were not long in taking him. We withed 
his legs together, run a pole through them, and started for 
camp. By keeping the woods, we could slip in at the foot 
of the company; but we had a road to cross, and there was 
where the trouble commenced. As we came out into the 
open space, who should gallop around the bend but General 
Thomas and staff, — just as we were thinking about what a 
nice mess we were going to have. He ordered us to halt, 
and riding up to us, asked : 

" ' Where do you men belong?' 

"'To the i8th U. S. Infantry,' I said. 

" ' Don't you know the order against foraging? ' 

" There was no use denying it, so I replied that we did. 

"'What did you kill that hog for?' 

" 'We wanted some fresh pork,' I said. 

" « Well, you will have to be disciplined for disobedience,' 
and the general turned to one of his aids, and added: ' Bring 
these men and that hog up to headquarters.' 

" The aid ordered us to pick up the hog, which we did, and 
wagged along with our load. To our surprise, we found a 
ring made and a guard waiting for us, with orders to make us 
carry the hog around that ring until further notice. Being 
nothing but a boy at that time, the hog got very heavy for 
me in a short time. I told the guard that I was too small 



CAMP-FIRE CHATS OF THE CIVIL WAR. 87 

for that kind of work, but he told me not to lay that hog 
down. I told him I must rest or die right there. 

"'AH right, be brave and die at your post,' he replied, 
with a laugh. 

"When we had carried the hog around about an hour 
an officer approached, and told us that General Thomas had 
said we might have the hog, as he thought we had earned it, 
and that we would not be guilty of such a trick again. Our 
punishment was complete, but didn't we drop that hog in a 
hurry? I tell you, rest never was so sweet. 

" When we had rested sufficiently, we took up our burden, 
and started for camp. We were heroes now, and instead 
of slipping in the back way, we walked right down the front, 
across the parade ground, between the line officers' tents and 
the heads of the companies, past the head of our own com- 
pany to our tent. The orderly sergeant appeared on the 
scene at once, and ordered us to take the hog to the cook's 
tent, and have it issued out. We had already killed it, but I 
said ' No! ' Then the orderly ordered two soldiers to pick it 
up and take it to the cook's tent. I told Killdow to watch 
the hog until I could go up and see the captain. In a few 
minutes I was at the captain's tent, and soon related the story 
about General Thomas giving us the hog. The captain ap- 
preciated the joke, laughed heartily, and said : 

" ' Well, I guess the hog belongs to you.' 

" I went back and told the orderly that the hog belonged 
to Killdow and myself. He went up to see the captain, but 
did not return; so we skinned the hog and issued it out to the 
boys ourselves. But that was the last hog that poor Killdow 
ever helped to kill, for he was taken prisoner at the battle of 
Chickamauga, Sept. 30, 1863, and died in Andersonville 
prison on the ist of September, 1864." 

" That is not very much unlike one T recall, which occurred 
just before we were going into Huntsville, Ala.," said Mr. J. 
J. Marquett, of Company B, 37th Indiana. 



8S CAMP-FIRE CHATS OF THE CIVIL WAR. 

*' It was reported that there were four Johnnies secreted 
on a large plantation about two miles from the line of march, 
and our lieutenant, eleven other men, and myself were de- 
tailed to look after their welfare. 

" We arrived about dark, deployed out, and came up on 
all sides of the house, so that none of them could escape. 
There were two or three at some of the doors, but I had a 
door to myself. When we were ready we began to force our 
way in. My door opened readily, and I stepped in. All 
was dark. I began to feel almost like a burglar. About the 
second step I took I ran against something, and putting my 
hand out to explore, I ran it squarely into a rich dish of 
corn meal pudding [known as * samp ' in the South] which 
was steaming hot! Near it was a plate of hot biscuit, and 
you may imagine that it didn't take me long to get those bis- 
cuit into my knapsack. The family had been just ready to 
eat, but had taken the light from the dining-room, so that the 
soldiers would not discover the supper. I helped myself to a 
few other things, and then, after exploring the room, left the 
house. 

" The other boys had been in the various rooms, but 
found no Johnnies, except a lady and her daughter — the men 
had all escaped to a small piece of woods. However, they 
left two guns and a pistol, all loaded, but the ladies did not 
try to use them. Near by was a nice spring-house, and when 
the boys came together we went in and filled our canteens 
with milk. Then we ate the biscuit and what other food I 
got, and started back for the main line. One of the boys had 
captured a ham, but we did not stop to cook that. 

" It was some time before we overtook the marching col- 
umn. About midnight we came to a small village with one 
store, which had been partly sacked, and there were yet a 
few soldiers hanging around the place. As we came up to 
the store we discovered the cause of this, for just then one of 



CAMP-FIRE CHATS OF THE CIVIL WAR. 89 

the boys came out of the cellar, reeling with drunkenness. 
One or two of our boys began to investigate, and found 
whiskey ankle deep all over the cellar floor. It seemed as if 
every one who had gone into the cellar had pulled the cork 
from a new barrel, drawn a canteen full, and let the liquor run. 
From the odor that came from the cellar, and from the effect 
the fluid had on the boys, It seemed to me that it must have 
been forty-rod whiskey." 

[The S. P. U. H. chemist, who had been retained on the 
liberal privilege that he might have all the knowledge he 
could gain from the several analyses, if he would defray his 
own expenses, ascertained that " forty-rod whiskey " took its 
name from the effect it produced upon those who smacked 
their lips over it. After quaffing the zephyr-like ambrosia it 
has the angelic faculty of making a fellow feel as if he were 
forty rods from the place of his real existence. In short, he 
is distant from his equilibrium, and usually makes a desperate 
effort to restore himself.] 

" When the boys caught up with the troops in the morn 
ing, all who had any forage went in the back way (for tliej^ 
had not been detailed to forage) except the fellow who had 
captured the ham. I say ' captured,' because when the day 
broke it was discovered that the ham possessed unmistakable 
signs of life. Observing this the soldier concluded that he 
had not carried that ham all night for nothing, and would yet 
have some sport from it, if not food. So he took another 
draught of * forty-rod ' from his canteen, run his bayonet 
through the ham and started into camp past General Tur- 
chin's headquarters, apparently more intoxicated than he 
really was. 

" ' Here ! ' demanded the general, ' where have you 
been ? ' 

" ' E — hie! — down the road a ways.' 

" ' Who gave you permission to go foragin'.^* ' 



go CAMP-FIRE CHATS OF THE CIVIL WAR. 

"'Didn't — hie! — have any; didn't think we — hie! — think 
we needed any, just to steal one ham.' 

" ' Come up here, you drunken vagrant.' 

"' Allrigh', general; you ean have the ham — s'pose that's 
what you want; take it right along — eomplimentr of ycur 
dearly be — hie! — loved.' 

" The general looked at the ham, and at onee saw its true 
eondition, whereupon he laughed: 

"' Sold again; — have a eigar. You ean have the nam— 
take it away, but look out that it don't bite ! ' " 

" Three cheers for S. B.," said the eommander of the 
camp-fire, and the vicinity echoed three hearty hurrahs. 

" That is like one I know, wherein the S. B. came off vic- 
torious," said Mr. Henry A. Keve, of the yth Illinois: 

" In the spring of 1862, our division (Dodge's) was sent 
out from Corinth, Miss., on an expedition into the Tuscumbia 
Valley in Alabama. On the 28th of April we were de- 
ployed as skirmishers at Town Creek, to watch for the 
approach of rebel cavalry under Roddy. The cavalry not 
making its appearance, the boys began to look about for means 
to pass the time away. A few stretched themselves upon the 
grass in the warm sunlight, and were soon fast asleep. 
Among the sleepers was Private Theodore, of Company K. 

" Theodore was one of those wise fellows, whose experi- 
ence in the regular army and in Mexico had furnished him 
with a wonderful stock of wearying tales and pointless jokes. 
He was personally acquainted with Generals Scott, Taylor, 
Wool, Twiggs, Jeff". Davis, and Robert E. Lee; was always 
ready with a solution of all difficult questions in military strat- 
egy, politics, philosophy or religion — in short, was a walking 
emporium of wisdom, and contrived to make himself gen- 
erally unpopular. 

" Not far from the sleeping Solomon was an old hog 
with a young family. The hog was very lean, which ac- 



CAMP-FIRE CHATS OF THE CIVIL WAR. 9I 

counts for her being able to perform her part in the following 
comedy. 

" But Private Brown was not asleep; on the contrary he was 
wide awake and looking about for some harmless amusement. 
He saw the old hog, and he saw *"he slumbering Theodore. 
Brown was an Illinois farmer and knew all about hogs and 
their habits; and his fertile brain soon developed the following 
scheme to bring Theodore back to consciousness: 

" He stole softly toward the bed of swine, grabbed a pig 
and started for the unconscious Theodore, the pig squealing 
and the old hog following on a run. Dropping the pig by 
the side of Theodore he stepped aside to view the result. On 
came the savage and terrified beast, and with a booh-hooh 
hooh! she pounced upon the unguarded sleeper. The scene 
that followed was exhilarating in the extreme — the old hog 
boohing-hoohing and shaking, and poor Theodore, thinking 
in his half-awake condition that the enemy was upon him, 
struggling and shouting: 

" 'I surrender! I surrenti^r!' He finally made his escape 
by leaving part of his clothing in the hog's possession; but 
with all his ability as a solver of knotty problems, Theodore 
could never ^magine what made that old hog so mad at him." 




CAMP-FIRE VIII. 

LIBBY PRISON — THE "HORNED YANKEE" ANDERSONVILLE, 

WHOSE SURNAME IS DEATH A MODERN MIRACLE THE 

ALTAR OF KLEPTOMANIA RECEIVES A SACRIFICE OF 
SEVEN. 

tT the close of the last camp-fire, Mr. W. Frank Bailey, 
of the 6th Pennsylvania Reserves, who was known to 
Ts^^s:^ have been wounded when he entered Andersonville, 
and to have had a rough experience, was requested to give 
what reminiscences he could of prison life, at the next camp- 
fire. When the usual preliminaries were gone through with, 
Mr. Bailey said he had thought some of Andersonville since 
his fourteenth months' visit there, and did not believe that 
any one who had spent any length of time in that village 
would ever forget vSouthern hospitality. 

He then continued: 

" Among the many incidents and exciting scenes of four 
years passed in active service, none have left a more vivid im- 
pression than my experience as a prisoner. You all remember, 
comrades, that during the year or more previous to the close 
of the war, the position of a soldier, either as a private or 
commissioned officer, was one of doubtful honor; and I only 
refer to this in order that due credit may be given to the 
heroic sufferers of whom I am about to speak. When the 
signs upon the horizon of our beloved Republic indicated her 
dismemberment, men thought not of toil, danger and priva- 
tion; but sprang to her rescue with one consent, cheerfully 
giving all that life could afford as their individual offering 

92 



CAMP-FIRE CHATS OF THE CIVIL WAR. 93 

upon a common altar as the price of her salvation. The best 
and noblest of the land, the pride of homes, the first-born of 
families, the beloved of households, stepped into line, actuated 
only by motives of the purest patriotism. As time rolled on 
and our people became more acquainted with the privations 
and calamities incident to a protracted struggle, patriotism 
declined, and mercenary inducements were held out, which 
drew from the ranks of the people many who were not solely 
inspired by a love of country or pride in her honor; hence the 
position of the soldier was rendered more or less humiliating 
to those who enlisted at the outbreak, and served to the close 
of the war. 

" But the record of the sufferings of the true soldier is 
eternal. The story of rebel prison pens is one which every 
true lover of our country might well wish were never written, 
and yet I make no apology for discussing it, for It is a part 
of human history — half written upon earth because hu- 
manity has no language to express, or pen to paint its horrors. 
Like som.e hideous nightmare transporting the imagination to 
the abode of the damned, do the recollections of this period of 
my life pass in review. Although nearly twenty years spent 
in peaceful civil life, have elapsed since the date of the events 
I am about to relate, I can only look back upon them to-day 
as a long, dark night of lingering horror — a fierce protracted 
struggle with a bitter, relentless, though unseen enemy, un- 
marked in its intensity by the roar of cannon or rattle of 
musketry, but in the slow, sure wasting away of mind and 
body; as though one were cast into a deep, dark pit, sur- 
rounded by dead and dying victims, whose emaciated bodies, 
despairing countenances, decaying forms and grinning skele- 
tons marked the progress of death's victory. Aa has been re- 
peatedly expressed by the survivors of some of these prisons, 
' Words are totally inadequate to the task of a description of 
their horrors.' Without attempting the impossibility of con- 



94 



CAMP-FIRE CHATS OF THE CIVIL WAR. 



veying to the mind of the hearer a full comprehension of the 
unhappy situation of Union prisoners confined in these living 
hells, I will endeavor to give a simple narrative of what I, in 
common with others, saw and experienced. It may be 
deemed impossible for one who was a sufferer to give a faith- 
ful account of a portion of the proceedings which form a 
black page in the history of our country. I can say with all 
sincerity that I have no other than the kindest feelings to- 
ward those who were our contestants on many a hard-fought 
field, and if there be any stigma attached for barbarities to 
Union prisoners it must not fall upon those who crossed 
swords with us in the front; men who daily tested each other's 
fidelity, bravery and courage, learned to respect such enemies 
too well to be guilty of a breach of humanity toward their 
fellow-men. 

" In connection with the circumstances which led to our 
capture, it may not be out of place to say that the Pennsylva- 
nia Reserves, to which division I belonged, claimed that their 
time had expired. The company with which I went out 
enlisted on the 22d day of April, 1861, but the division was 
not sworn into the United States service until July 27, of the 
same year. We claimed the right to count our term of service 
from the date of our enlistment; the government claiming 
from the date on which we were sworn in, a difference of 
three months. This was compromised by promising our 
muster out on the 30th of May, 1864. I merely mention this 
to show the fidelity of old soldiers, inasmuch as the date of 
the capture of a large number of us occurred on that after- 
noon, within a few hours of the time agreed upon for our 
final discharge. And you will pardon my digression in say- 
ing that the grand old division, composed entirely of Penn- 
sylvanians, after serving more than a month over time, and 
that period spent in almost daily battle, in the front ranks of 
the Army of the Potomac, was finally relieved at midnight, 



cAmp-fire chats of the civil war. 95 

while upon the picket line, on the field where they had 
fought for several hours previous. 

" After the ten days' Battle of the Wilderness, second 
battle of Spottsylvania Court House, North Anna River, 
and the series of engagements ending in flank movements, 
which occurred in the spring of 1864, we were brought to a 
point about two miles from Bethesda Church, situated on the 
Mechanicsville plank road, distant about nine miles from 
Richmond. On the 30th day of May, 1864, the regiment to 
which I belonged (the 6th Pennsylvania Reserves), in con- 
nection with the original Bucktail Regiment, numbering in 
all about 700 men, were deployed as skirmishers in the 
woods in which we lay, with orders to move to the road 
mentioned, and hold it. The Confederate pickets were soon 
encountered, who fell back as we advanced. After driving 
them from the woods, we came to an open clearing about half 
a mile across to another woods. This we crossed on the 
double-quick, two companies on the left of our line crossing 
the road which was our objective point, and nearly a mile in 
advance of our regular line of battle. We were ordered to 
halt and entrench, which we immediately proceeded to do by 
tearing dov/n the rail fences from both sides of the road, and 
piling up the rails preparatory to ccwering them with earth. 
At this moment we were joined on the left by one of the 
heavy artillery regiments, fresh from the fortifications about 
Washington, and utterly ignorant of infantry duty in the 
field. In the short interval the rebel skirmishers had fallen 
back lo a point where their spent balls just reached us, leav- 
ing us under the impression that we were masters of the 
situation. But soldiers, like other people, are often the victims 
of misplaced confidence. We were totally ignorant of the 
fact that General Swell's Confederate corps of about fifteen 
hundred fresh troops were lying concealed in the woods ** ^ew 
rods ahead of us, and had been busily occupying the tinic xU 



g6 CAMP-FIRE CHATS OF THE CIVIL WAR. 

surrounding our flanks, which being completed, they sud> 
denly emerged from the woods in front of us, in a heavy line 
of battle, pouring in a volley upon us at a distance of less 
than ten rods. Surprised, and almost entirely surrounded by 
a force of ten to one, a large number were killed and wounded, 
and over three hundred captured, among whom was myself, 
wounded in the foot and leg. Previous to this time, Libby 
prison, Belle Isle, and Castle Thunder had already established 
reputations throughout the North for unwarranted and cruel 
treatment of their prisoners. The prison pen at Anderson- 
ville was yet in its infancy, and its world-wide fame was then 
confined within its silent walls. The pens at Florence and 
Cahawba were not established, but enough was known to 
inspire one with dread at the thought of falling into the ene- 
my's hands. In fact, the idea of being taken prisoner had 
entirely escaped my notice until this moment. All the reports 
current in relation to rebel prison pens, which I had hereto- 
fore given but a passing thought, became unusually vivid. I 
endeavored to console myself with the reflection that I should 
see Richmond, which for three years we had so much desired 
to possess, — and probably much of the enemy's country. The 
first attraction I possessed in the eyes of my captors was an 
old silver watch. The colonel of the 43d North Carolina 
wanted just such a watch, and gave me all the scrip he had, 
$75 Confederate money, in exchange for it. Nothing but 
our swords, fire-arms and ammunition were taken from us 
by our captors. It being late in the afternoon, the able-bodied 
prisoners were sent back to the Provost Mar&hal, while the 
wounded were taken to about a mile in the rear of the rebel 
line, and kept under guard all night. As my foot, which had 
now swollen to double its ordinary size, and my leg gave me 
considerable pain, I could not sleep-^ but sat by a camp-fire, 
drawing consolation from the steady stream of ambulances 
?or*veying wounded to the rear, all night long. I knew our 



98 



CAMP-FIRE CHATS OF THE CIVIL WAR. 



boys in blue had done their best to avenge us, and many a 
traitor to his country had been sent to his long home. 

" The following morning we were marched to the head- 
quarters of the Provost Marshal, an interesting place in all 
armies. In a large field, surrounded by guards, were grouped 
Union prisoners, rebel deserters, spies, citizens who were for- 
cibly impressed into the rebel service, many of whom ente^. 
tained strong Union sentiments, and refused to take arms, 
called conscripts, — a regular heterogeneous mixture of of 
fenders. Here the first process of ' skinning ' was performed. 
All equipments serviceable in the field, such as blankets* 
haversacks, canteens, shelter tents, rubber blankets, etc., etc.. 
were taken from us. 

" On our way to the Provost Marshal's, I had an oppor- 
tunity to learn for myself that some, at lejist, of the Southern 
people believed that Yankees had horns. On account of my 
disability, I was unable to keep pace with the other prisoners, 
and a comrade was detailed to help me along, and a guard to 
keep us company. Before reaching our destination, we made 
a detour from the main road to a dwelling house, for the 
purpose of getting a drink of water, and, if possible, procur- 
ing something to eat. We secured a drink at the spring in 
the rear of the house, and passing to the front, encountered 
a middle-aged and two younger ladies sitting on the porch, 
Our guard, who acted as spokesman, asked for something to 
eat, telling them at the same time that we were Yanked 
prisoners. One of the young ladies, in all sincerity, immedi- 
ately asked the guard : 

" ' Where are their horns?' 

" Upon which we all commenced to laugh, when the 
young lady innocently replied that she had been told that all 
the Yankees had horns on their heads like cows. I hardly 
need say that we got nothing to eat, and doubt if we wouldj 
even if we had had horns. 

7 



CAMP-FIRE CHATS OF THE CIVIL WAR. 99 

«« During the afternoon we were placed in cars and taken 
to Richmond, a distance of five miles from the Provost Mar- 
shal's. It was the custom of the authorities, upon receiving 
a number of Union prisoners to parade them through the 
streets, to encourage the people, and buoy up the hopes of the 
Confederates stationed about the capital. Our squad was ac- 
cordingly marched from the depot to the War Department, 
and thence to the well-known warehouse used in tunes of 
peace by Libby & Co., whose sign was still suspended above 
the door, and gave a name to this prison which will endure 
for generations. It was with considerable difficulty that I 
performed this part of the programme, but by the assistance 
of a comrade I was enabled to walk through the city, fully 
as much to my own satisfaction as that of the enemy. I was 
struck with the appearance of both the city and the people as 
compared with the cities of the North. A miserable scanti- 
ness seemed to be almost universal. The shops and stores 
were poorly stocked. Ragged and threadbare clothing cov- 
ered the wretched specimens of humanity whom the strictly 
enforced Conscription Act had left behind as home guards. 
Disappointment at the results of the war was visible on every 
countenance, and Intense hatred for the Yankees brought 
forth loudly-expressed denunciations and epithets from the 
citizens who lined the sidewalks. One could hardly help 
realizing that the ashes of the angry Vesuvius outside the 
fortifications were settling over the doomed city. It was 
nearly dark when we reached the prison, and we were quar- 
tered for the first night on the first floor of the warehouse. 

" Early next morning the officer in charge, Maj. Richard 
Turner, commonly known as Dick Turner, accompanied by 
an armed squad and two clerks, entered the apartment. The 
prisoners were ordered into Ime and a request politely made 
that all who had any United States money in their possession 
should come forward and give it up. (This was the first, 



lOO CAMP-FIRE CHATS OF THE CIVIL WAR. 

last, and only politely expressed request or command ever ad- 
dressed to us while prisoners.) They told us that all who 
would thus voluntarily give up their money should have their 
names recorded in a book, and when exchanged it would be 
returned to them. Our boys displayed a great lack of faith in 
the solvency of this bank for deposits only^ as but two or 
three responded to the invitation. One of the clerks actually 
performed the farce of recording their names and amounts. 
The voluntary subscription to the fund being exhausted, and 
a further display of humanity on the part of our captors being 
superfluous, the rest of us were told that our money and val- 
uables would be taken from us anyhow. 

" The ' skinning ' process resorted to was sufficient to 
satisfy any one that there was not much left in our possession. 
Each prisoner was called up singly and ordered to strip, 
which was done to the last stitch. Clothing was turned 
wrong side out and thoroughly searched in the pockets and 
between the linings, plugs of tobacco were cut open, daguer- 
reotypes taken out of their cases, fingers were run through 
the hair, the mouth ordered to be opened, arms raised, and 
every imaginable means employed to thwart Yankee inge- 
nuity in secreting valuables. Many of the old soldiers un- 
derstand a disease known in the army as the ' green piles.' 
The rebels had heard of it, and no prisoner was permitted to 
pass without a careful examination on 'his point. Knives, 
rings, paper, envelopes, extra clothing ot all kinds, was con- 
fiscated, pictures of friends were torn up or stamped under 
feet, for no other purpose than lest they might prove a com- 
fort to the prisoners. In spite of the strict search 1 succeeded 
in retaining a part of the money I had, together with a gold 
locket containing a picture of my fiither and mothei*, which I 
still have in my possession. My comparatively helpless con- 
dition caused them to pay less attention to my movements 
than they otherwise would, and while the 350 prisoners who 



CAMP-FIRE CHATS OF THE CIVIL WAR. lOI 

preceded me were being gone through with, I succeeded in 
placing the things mentioned between the Hnings in the legs 
of my boots, one of which I had been compelled to cut over 
the instep in order to get it off my foot when first wounded. 
The fact of my boots being cut proved fortunate, as I was 
enabled to keep them also — -boots being a prize among the 
rebels. 

" When the process of searching was finished we were 
taken up to the second floor, in a large room where were 
confined a number of other prisoners. The windows of the 
room were secured by iron bars, such as adorn prison cells. 
The building was surrounded by sentinels, whose beats were 
on the pavement below. No one was allowed to put his 
head close enough to the bars to look down on the street, un- 
der penalty of being shot. In the afternoon, this being the 
third day after our capture, we drew our first rations from the 
Confederacy, consisting of four or five ounces of corn bread. 
two spoonfuls of cooked rice, and two ounces of boiled bacon. 
This, once a day, constituted our rations while in Libby 
prison. What it lacked in quantity was made up in strength, 
the rice bugs and old bacon being abundantly able to satisfy 
our appetites and sustain our bodily wants. 

" Here many of us for the first time contracted an inti- 
mate acquaintance with the prisoners' closest companion. 
When in after days hope grew faint and we seemed left 
to our fate, deserted by the country we loved, our little 
friend stuck to us closer than a brother. In sickness or health, 
rain or shine, through evil report or good report, he never de- 
serted us. Twice each day he helped us by his presence to 
while away a portion of the long dreary hours, and we even 
took oflf our clothing to catch sight of him. I refer to the 
festive louse. 

" We remained in Libby prison only ten days, it not being 
deemed safe by the authorities to accumulate too many 



I02 CAMP-FIRE CHATS OF THE CIVIL WAR. 

prisoners in Richmontl at one time, as fighting was in prog- 
ress outside the city continually, and fresh batches were being 
brought in every few days. Our lot at that time seemed very 
hard to us, fully confirming all the reports we had heard, but 
future experience proved that this was a paradise compared 
with what was to follow. It was positively asserted by the 
older prisoners that Libby prison was at that time mined, and 
it was the intention of the rebels, if the Northern army was 
successful in penetrating the lines around Richmond, to blow 
up the building and destroy the contents. This information 
was obtained from the negroes, who were sent in every morn- 
ing to sweep the floor of our room. These negroes were in- 
clined to be very friendly to us, and many a loaf of bread was 
smuggled into the prisoners' room ; but the greatest caution 
was needed, as the slightest attention shown us would have 
subjected them to the severest punishment, if detected. 

" Prices of everything in the rebel capital were enormous. 
A uniform of gray for a Confederate officer cost $1,200; a 
good pair of boots, $900. Salt was scarce at any price. A 
loaf of bread but little larger than a baker's bun sold for 
$3.00. One greenback dollar was rated equal to six of Con- 
federate scrip. Their reason for this was that the United 
States money would be good whatever the result of the war, 
while theirs would be valuable only in case of success, which 
many of them doubted, even at that time. They displayed 
great desire to get possession of all the greenbacks they could, 
notwithstanding the stringent laws in vogue against a dis- 
crimination in favor of United States money. 

" In a few days we were told that we would be taken to 
a military camp which had lately been established at Ander- 
sonville, Ga., for the benefit of prisoners, and that our condi- 
tion would be much improved. The camp at Andersonville 
was painted in glowing colors, and the advantages so well 
represented, that we were eager for the change. They told 



CAMP-FIRE CHATS OF THE CIVIL WAR. IO3 

US it was beautifully situated in a meadow, cleared out from 
the woods, where we could be sheltered by the trees from the 
sun ; also that a fine stream of water ran through it, in which 
we could fish and swim — in fact, that we could spend our time 
in any way to suit ourselves, as very much more freedom 
would be allowed us than could be permitted at Richmond. 

"Accordingly, on the 9th of June, we were aroused at 
early dawn, marched to the depot, and placed on cars des- 
tined for Andersonville. The cars were of the most miser- 
able description, for freight and cattle, some of them being 
open, such as we use on our construction trains, without seats. 
We were packed in so close that we could neither sit nor 
stand with any comfort. We slept somewhat after the style 
of sardines in a box, though not quite so sound. As we were 
carted along at the convenience of the various roads over 
which we passed, our trip consumed eight days. During 
this period we drew rations only four times, very small ra- 
tions for a day each time. Once we were fed dry corn on 
the cob, which, though unpalatable, we were glad to get. 
Want of water added very much to our discomfort At Dan- 
ville, Va., I paid fifty cents for a pint of water, and at a station 
in North Carolina I procured half a pound of corn bread and 
three-quarters of a pound of bacon for the modest sum of $5^ 
Another serious loss befell me on the second day of our trip, 
which added one more cause of destitution. I was trying to 
sleep, by way of passing away time on the uncomfoilable cars, 
but was aroused by some unusual movements about my head, 
and raised up just in time to discover the rebel captain in chai*gc 
of the train putting on my hat and traveling oflf with it. I 
called out to him, demanding my hat, when he threw me his 
old gray headgear, remarking that it was good enough for 
any Yankee. Filled with indignation, I threw it out the car 
door, and was compelled in consequence to pass the next six 
months of my life without a hat. 



I04 CAMP-FIRE CHATS OP THE CIVIL WAR. 

"At Greensboro, N. C, we failed to secure a train to con- 
tinue our journey, and were marched to a piece of woods 
near the town to pass the night; a severe thunderstorm came 
up, and the rain fell in torrents all night. Sleep was, of 
course, impossible, and we stood there in the rain until morn- 
ing, making the woods ring with ' Rally Round the Flag, 
Boys,' and other patriotic songs, much to the annoyance Ox^ 
the guard, who threatened time and again to shoot the whole 
lot of us. The people all along the route displayed the most 
mtense hatred for Yankees, and many were the denuncia- 
tions heaped upon us. Hang 'em! Shoot 'em! Kill 'em! 
were the exclamations that greeted our ears at the different 
stations passed. The guards were very rigid, and being 
composed of troops who had never listened to the music in 
front, felt that they had a heavy responsibiHty attached to 
them in guarding a lot of unarmed prisoners through a peace- 
ful section of their own country. At only one place along 
the route did we encounter anything approaching humanity 
of feeling, and that was at Augustn, Ga. The train stopped 
there for a few minutes, and a young lady, accompanied by 
two colored women bearing baskets of provisions, came to 
the cars and commenced distributing food to the prisoners. 
The guards undertook to stop her, but she gave them some 
reply which was satisfactory to them, and continued her 
labor of love unmolested, actuated by a feeling of humanity, 
if not of Union sentiment. The boys cheered her lustily, 
and I am positive that was the sweetest morsel of food ever 
oiFered to Union prisoners south of Mason and Dixon's line. 

"We arrived at Andersonville on the 1 6th of June, and 
found this world-renowned place to consist of two houses, a 
railroad station, and a water tank. The situation of the place 
was one of utter isolation, surrounded as it was with a wilder- 
ness of pine woods, and was apparently intended by nature 
as an abode for owls and bats, the whistle of the locomotive 



CAMP-FIRE CHATS OF THE CIVIL WAR. I05 

seeming to be an intrusion upon the utter loneliness which 
the place Inspired. The whole distance from Macon, which 
we left that morning, had been through a desolate, dreary- 
part of the country, each mile more and more God-forsaken 
in appearance, until our destination was reached, — truly a fit 
place for the dark and cruel tragedy which paved earth six 
miles long and six feet wide with human victims. A weird 
spot, where the groans of the dying and shrieks of the maniac 
reverberated through the forest wilds, lost from human ear in 
the murmuring of the tree-tops, and wafted up to heaven by 
the swaying of the giant pines. The sense of novelty in being 
a prisoner of war diminished very rapidly as we marched to 
the pen designated for our future abode, which was situated 
about a half mile from the depot. Before entering the gate, 
we were again drawn up into line and searched, lest our Yan- 
kee ingenuity should succeed in procuring and concealing 
something in spite of the watchfulness of our guards. We 
were then divided into detachments of 270, sub-divided into 
nineties, and further into thirties, to facilitate the regular 
morning roll-call, and the not altogether regular drawing of 
rations, a captive non-commissioned officer being placed over 
each detachment and its divisions. 

" The true inwardness ot the situation was then made 
known to us in these words, uttered by the officer who com- 
manded our escort from the cars: 

" 'You d d Yankees, you will never come out of here 

as men; what we cannot kill of you, we will disable for life.' 
I shall never forget the effect these words produced upon my 
mind. I had seen three years of hard service, participated 
in fifteen pitched battles, and flattered myself that I knew 
something of the hardships and dangers of war. My twen- 
tieth birthday had been passed only the second day before, 
and life seemed large and full of hope before me. The truth 
of the awful situation fell upon me with full force. We were 



I06 CAMP-FIRE CHATS OF THE CIVIL WAR 

to suffer with exposure, neglect, starvation, insults and indig- 
nities, until our spirits were crushed out and bodies skeleton- 
ized, if we submitted to the will of our keepers; or be shot 
down if we rebelled. From that moment our imprisonment, 
became a struggle between life and death. We knew that 
everything that could be devised would be done to end our 
lives. 

" We then entered the prison, as many had done before 
us. Alas, we had little dreamed of the hardships we should 
here encounter; how few of us would ever come out alive! 
It is impossible to describe in words the living horrors pre- 
sented to the eye. To think that human beings should be 
compelled to exist in such a place is a stain upon all record 
of human barbarity. The pen was built by clearing out the 
pine woods and inclosing about twenty acres within a stock- 
ade. The ground upon which the camp was built was rising 
on two sides of a mud bottom stream, the borders of which 
were swampy. The stockade was formed of logs set upright, 
reaching sixteen feet above ground, and about four feet below 
the surface, with sentry boxes on top at intervals of perhaps 
one hundred feet. Inside of this, and about twenty feet from 
its base, was a railing three feet high formed of stakes set 
upright about twelve feet apart, with a single rail extending 
across the top. This was the ' dead line,' and the prisoner 
who stepped over its bounds was not asked to retrace his 
steps; the unerring bullet promptly met him on the othei 
side. 

" No shelter of any description was provided for the pris- 
oners; on the contrary, all our blankets and shelter tents had 
been taken from us. Sick and well alike were left exposed 
to the burning sun or drenching rain, to live as best they 
could upon the dry, barren, sandy soil, with only the canop)- 
of heaven for protection. Within the inclosure we found 
23,000 poor creatures, some of whom had scarce a trace of 



I08 CAMP-FIRE CHATS OF THE CIVIL WAR. 

manhood left in their appearance, some feeble and emaciated 
from starvation and disease, clothnig worn to tatters, filthy 
rags, unwashed faces, uncombed hair, countenances indicative 
of utter despair, earthly hopes gone, — waiting only for death. 
The stream which ran through the camp and supplied us with 
water was rendered unfit for use before it reached us. Five 
regiments of rebel troops who guarded the prisoners had 
their quarters above us, and threw all their ofFal into it before 
it reached us. At least three acres on the borders of the 
stream were swampy, and was a living, surging mass of filth 
propelled by maggots. The stench which arose from the 
entire camp was beyond imagination, seeming to solidify the 
atmosphere. Three of our squad, in utter despair at such a 
prospect of existence, stepped over the 'dead line,' and received 
their call for another world, satisfied that death, with all its 
uncertainties, would not produce a worse place than this. To 
say that the bravest hearts quailed at the sight of these living 
horrors, coupled with the fact that we might be there until the 
close of the war, then an indefinite period, would but faintly 
express our feelings. Speaking for myself, I can only say that 
I was filled with a feeling of dogged determination to live it 
out to the bitter end. Every impulse in my nature seemed 
to rise in revolt against the idea of dying a victim to the 
machinations of our heartless enemies. I gloried in my hope 
to live as a witness to what I believe to be the inost barbu' 
rous treatment in huinan history ! I knew from the expe- 
rience of others that upon this hope hung life itself, and I 
held to it with all the tenacity of a youthful and unconquered 
nature. Standing in that fated line where every second man 
was destined to fill a grave on the ground where he stood, 
my brave comrades upon my right hand and upon my left 
hand have gone down, and by the favor of Divine Providence 
I am left. 

" The routine of prison life in this pen was as regular as 



CAMP-FIRE CHATS OK THE CIVIL WAR. IO9 

clock work in all respects, save in drawing rations. At 8 
o'clock every morning each detachment was called into line 
and counted by a rebel sergeant. Every man had to be 
accounted for who was alive. No matter how sick, he was 
brought out and counted. Every morning, regularly, a cir- 
cuit of the camp was made outside the stockade by the officer 
of the guard, accompanied by two or more bloodhounds, for 
the purpose of ascertaining whether any one had made his 
escape, either over or under the stockade. The rebel drum 
corps always played the one tune, ' Ain't I Glad I'm out of 
the Wilderness.' It is said that ' music hath charms to soothe 
the savage breast,' but after listening to that tune every day 
for three months, I am forced to the conclusion that rebel 
music had no power to soothe us. It may be, however, that 
they were unfortunate in their selection of a tune. 

'' At 10 o'clock in the morning we generally drew ra- 
tions. The rations at Andersonville consisted of one and one- 
half pints of corn meal and three ounces of old bacon per 
day. The quantity was sufficient to subsist upon, but unfor- 
tunately for our stomachs, the meal was often cobs and corn 
ground together. Fresh beef was sometimes substituted for 
bacon, and rice for meal. The rations were issued from 
wagons driven into camp to the sergeants of detachments, 
by them to the sergeants of thirties, who divided it as nearly 
as possible into thirty portions. One of the squad would 
then turn his back, and as the sergeant placed his hand upon 
a morsel, would call out to whom it should belong. Bones 
were considered equal to meat in the division of the rations, 
and the man who drew a shin bone with every particle of 
meat stripped from it, was considered the fortunate man for 
that day, as the bone was broken to pieces and boiled for 
broth, after which it was burned almost to a cinder and eaten. 
One of the greatest difficulties we experienced was in cook- 
ing our food. The utensils we used for that purpose in the 



no CAMP-FIRE CHATS OF THE CIVIL WAR. 

army had been taken from us. Wood was very sparsely 
issued to us, although surrounded by woods. A piece as 
large as an arm sold for twenty-five cents. We cut it into 
splinters with the aid of beef ribs. The lucky possessor of a 
case or pocket knife picked up many quarters by manufact- 
uring wooden dishes, plates, spoons, pails, etc. With these 
we could mix our meal to the proper consistency, put it into a 
wooden plate, and stand it before the fire until it was 
browned, or at least smoked with pitch pine until it had the 
appearance of being cooked. From some pieces of Un and 
sheet iron torn from the roof of the cars on our way from 
Richmond, some were enabled to make pails or cups in which 
to boil mush. Occasionally our rations would be stopped for 
a day or two, upon some trifling pretext. The prisoners suf- 
fered very much, not from the quantity of our allowance of 
food, but from the quality and kind, as well as constant ex- 
posure and general surroundings. 

" Want of vegetables made scurvy very prevalent in 
camp. A small potato sold for twenty-five cents, and who- 
ever could raise the cash generally had a potato which he 
carried with him to rub his teeth and gums. 

" It must not be supposed, although destitution reached a 
low point, that there were no speculators in Andersonville. 
There were several booths stocked with a few articles, such 
as tobacco, potatoes, flour, etc., at enormous prices, and a 
small traffic was carried on by some enterprising Yankee 
who divided his profits with some reliable rebel outside the 
camp who furnished him the merchandise. Others, on a 
smaller scale, who possessed enough of the ' ready John ' to 
get a pound of flour, a stick of wood, and a piece of sheet 
iron, were found making slap-jacks about the size of a trade 
dollar, calling out, ' Here's your hot cakes, only twenty-five 
cents each.' It was a godsend to many of us that the garri- 
son of Union troops, numbering about 4,000 men, stationed at 



CAMP-FIRE CHATS OF THE CIVIL WAR. Ill 

Plymouth, N. C, had surrendered conditionally, and were 
confined at Andersonville. These men retained everything 
except arms and munitions of war, and freely shared their 
shelter and conveniences with those of their friends who were 
less fortunate. It was my good luck to find a company from 
my old home among them, and I was not slow in accepting 
an invitation to make my quarters with them. 

" During the month of July the stockade was enlarged, 
six acres being added to it. We were fortunate enough to be 
moved on the new and higher ground inclosed by the addi- 
tion, as the old portion of the camp had been literally cata- 
combed for the convenience of the sick. The number of 
prisoners was increased to 33,000 — a motlay mass — composed 
of almost every nationality under the sun, and it was not long 
before the new portion of the camp had become almost as 
bad as the old. The filthy swamp enlarged its borders, and 
daily became more abominable. The situation grew worse 
each day. Rumors of exchange or of a cavalry raid for our 
release were daily gossiped through the camp, and served to 
inspire hope. It was well, perhaps, that no raid was evei 
attempted. Our guards told us repeatedly that if such an 
effort was made they would open fire on the camp from the 
four batteries which were situated so as to sweep the entire 
surface of it; and we had no doubt they would have been 
highly gratified to have done so, as they never neglected an 
opportunity to kill a prisoner upon the slightest pretext. A 
furlough of thirty days was granted to any guard who killed 
a Yankee. Deaths increased to a frightful extent, numbering 
from sixty to two hundred per day during the hot months^ 
Hundreds of poor creatures, weakened by hunger and sick- 
ness, gave up hope, lay down, and died miserable deaths, 
lonely in the midst of thousands almost as badly off as 
themselves; each engaged in a struggle for life, and power- 
less to help a fellow man. Early every morning on my trip 



JfI2 CAMP-FIRE CHATS OF THE CIVIL WAR. 

for water, of which we endeavored to lay in the day's supply 

before ihe camp v/as aroused, and while the miserable stream 
was comparatively clear, I would encounter a score or more 
of poor creatures who had crawled down to get a drink dur- 
ing the night and were unable to get back, covered with ver- 
min and filth, maggots filling up the nose, eyes and mouth, 
while the breath of life still lingered in their emaciated 
bodies — some whose eyes were already set in death, others 
too far gone to speak or move — sights like these language 
cannot describe. Here were men of intelligence and afflu- 
ence who had surrendered the comforts of life, leaving every- 
thing behind to answer their country's call, with wives and 
little ones at home unconscious of their awful sufferings, 
waiting anxiously some tidings of the missing one. Moth- 
ers, sisters, fathers and brothers in their Northern homes were 
expecting the return of loved sons and brothers; yet here 
they lay strewn along the filthy swamp, dead and dying. No 
word of comfort reached their ear. No mother, wife, or little 
ones to gather around them in this their last hour; not even a 
stranger to speak a word of cheer, or point them to that 'far 
away home of the soul.' No, shut out from all earthly sym- 
pathy, surrounded by scenes of horror and disgust, in the 
hands of merciless, unrelenting captors, they died like dogs. 

" Life at Andersonville was necessarily selfish. True, as 
in civil life, bullies had their followers and great minds their 
worshipers, but in the struggle for existence every man stood 
alone. Life was the prize fought for. Every ounce of food 
parted with to help a fellow-man was a drop of blood from 
the giver, that could poorly be spared. No matter how the 
heart was wrung with sympathy for others, no material hcip 
could be imparted. That which was necessary to relieve 
want and suffering was not ours to give. Day after day we 
were compelled to see a friend, old schoolmate or stranger, 
sink under the awful pressure, and be drawn closer and closer 



CAMP-FIRE CHATS OF THE CIVIL WAR. II 3 

to a cruel death, without power to alleviate their sufferings. 
To abandon the dead and dying and inspire hope in the living, 
was all that was left us. 

" I will relate a couple of interesting incidents which 
occurred during my imprisonment in this horrible pen, one 
of which was a remarkable display of Divine Providence, 
and if the time of miracles had not long since passed, might 
properly be classed among the catalogue of wonders justly 
ascribed to supernatural causes. Both of these incidents have 
been published in leading newspapers, and I as an eye-witness 
of the facts, and because they justly form a part of every 
man's experience who was confined in Andersonville at that 
time, reproduce them here. I have previously told you of 
the bad condition of the stream that supplied us with water. 
This was our only drink until about the ist of August. One 
hot afternoon, after a heavy shower of rain, just outside the 
Hlead line,' where we were not allowed to go, on the descent 
of the hill where the camp was situated, there suddenly 
appeared a jet of pure cold water, as large as a man's thumb, 
springing out of the hitherto dry, sandy, barren earth, and 
describing an arch of about a foot in length until it reached 
the ground again. A cup was fastened to a stick, reached 
over the ' dead line,' and good water procured. It did not 
flow fast enough to supply the camp, but hundreds, even 
thousands, enjoyed its refreshing draughts, the priceless gift 
of One from whose fevered lips had once burst the cry, 'I 
thirst!' who saw and knew our sufferings, and in His infinite 
wisdom placed it where improvident humanity could not 
trample it out of existence. I do not know whether it flows 
to this day or not, but it was still performing its mission of 
mercy when I left the camp. 

" When so large and so miscellaneous a body of men as 
were those confined in Andersonville, are freed from the 
restrictions imposed for the better government of society, a 



114 CAMP-FIRE CHATS OF THE CIVIL WAR. 

great deal of the worst side of human nature becomes visible. 
The weak were a prey to the strong, stealing was carried on 
without limit, and deeds of lawlessness were of hourly occur- 
rence. No fear of law stood in the way of any act of depreda- 
tion. Very severe methods were resorted to by the order-loving 
part of the camp to curtail the evil propensities of the mali- 
cious. During^ the latter part of June, the camp was infested 
by a gang of desperadoes, composed of our own men, who 
did not hesitate in the dead hour of night to murder any one 
who might have succeeded in retaining money or valuables 
in their possession, burying their bodies in the swamp. For 
protection, a police force of 500 men was organized, which 
was ever after retained in camp to preserve order. The per- 
petrators of these outrages were ferreted out, and brought 
before a self-constituted court-martial. It was discovered that 
an organized gang of eighty lawless characters had banded 
themselves together for the purpose of plunder, who hesi- 
tated at no deed to accomplish their object. Seven of these 
men were found guilty, and sentenced to be hung, the rebels 
consenting to keep them safely under guard till the day of 
execution. A scaffold was erected inside the stockade, and 
on the nth day of July, six of the condemned men were 
brought in and hung in the presence of all the prisoners and 
4,000 of the rebel guards, as a warning to lawless characters. 
One of the men had been previously shot by the guard while 
in the act of trying to escape. This prompt treatment put a 
stop to such lawlessness. 

" As an incident of this remarkable execution, and to 
show the power of one desperate man over an unorganized 
body of men, while the prisoners were being led to the scaf- 
fold, one of them, the acknowledged leader of the gang, who 
had assumed the name of Mosby, broke from his guard and 
ran. The immense crowd of prisoners involuntarily parted, 
making a clear pathway for him, and it was with considerable 



CAMP-FIRE CHATS OF THE CIVIL WAR. IIC 

difficulty that he was recaptured and brought to the gallows. 
As the drop fell, and the unfortunate wretches were launched 
in mid air, one of the ropes broke, and its victim fell with a 
dull thud to the ground; but he was promptly taken up and 
hung again. 

" The question has often been asked why we did not try 
to escape. The reason is that at no time while I was at 
Andersonville were over one-third of the prisoners capable of 
active exertion, and any effort on the part of those able to 
make the attempt, would have brought on a wholesale slaugh- 
ter of helpless, unarmed men. Artillery was planted so as 
to sweep every inch of the camp. Thousands would have 
been killed or wounded, and most of the others recaptured, 
and, if possible, treated worse than before. Our only chance 
of escape was in tunneling under the stockade, which was 
slow work, and very uncertain. Many attempts were made 
in this direction, only a few of which ever proved successful. 
The distance from the ' dead line ' to the stockade was about 
sixteen feet, and it certainly was not safe to emerge from the 
ground nearer than the same distance from the other side- 
The ground was loose and sandy on top, and a tunnel nec- 
essarily had to be deep in the center and narrow all the way 
through to prevent the earth from caving in. In addition to 
the great labor of the undertaking was the constant danger of 
detection. The Confederate officer of the guard patroled 
the camp outside the stockade every morning with a pack of 
bloodhounds; besides which, spies were in our midst all the 
time, as well as some of our own men employed to watch our 
movements. 

" Some idea of the labor, difficulties and disappointments 
of tunneling may be gathered from one of our attempts. 
Three of us at one time started a tunnel as close as possible 
to the 'dead line.' We carefully hid it from view by putting 
up an old piece of shelter tent possessed by one of the pai t\'. 



Il6 CAMP-FIRE CHATS OF THE CIVIL WAR. 

Under this tent, one of us was ostensibly sick, and lay during 
the daytime directly over the hole on a board purchased from 
one of the speculators. At night we dug out the dirt with a 
piece of tin taken from an old canteen, and carried it off in 
our clothes, first tying our pant-legs tight around our ankles 
and coat-sleeves around our wrists, then filling these with dirt 
as well as our pockets, besides what we could stuff inside the 
bodies of our shirts. After being thus loaded, we started for 
the swamp, where we buried the fresh dirt, carefully covering 
each deposit with the filthy surface of the swamp. The 
utmost caution was necessary, not only to escape the suspicion 
of the guard, whose heat ran past the scene of our operations, 
but also to keep our work hidden from the other prisoners 
around us. In this slow way we worked for over two weeks, 
and calculated we had got about under the stockade. We 
worked with a will, animated by a hope of liberty, and imag- 
ined we could almost sniff the pure free air outside. Our 
venture was a profound secret, though we determined when 
the work was accomplished, to give several of our friends the 
opportunity to get out after we were gone. This determina- 
tion was not altogether freed from selfishness on our part, as 
we knew the bloodhounds would probably follow the fresh- 
est trails, and the last ones out would be more likely to 
attract the attention of the guard than the first. Poor human 
hopes! In spite of our well-laid plans, our house was verita- 
bly built upon the sand. Our disappointment can possibly be 
better imagined than described when, one afternoon, a rebel 
sergeant and four guards with shovels, came into camp, and 
marched directly to the tent, took off the board, and com- 
menced to fill up our tunnel. Our * sick' comrade had by 
the merest chance crawled out after a drink of water, and the 
other two of us were spending the time with acquaintances. 
We had the mortification of seeing the fruits of our toil vanish 
before our eyes, and our hopes once more laid lower than ever. 



CAMP-FIRE CHATS OF THE CIVIL WAR. II7 

Some treacherous prisoner or rebel spy had discovered our 
work and betrayed us. We were only too glad that we all 
escaped detection, though the rebels made no effort to find 
us beyond asking the prisoners in the immediate vicinity. 
Any of the prisoners who were found guilty of betraying 
their fellows in an attempt to escape, were in great danger 
of lynch law. I have witnessed several in the act of having 
one-half their head shaved, and a letter ' T ' branded on with 
a hot iron. 

" At one time a plot was on foot to hoist the Stars and 
Stripes, a small flag which had been preserved by a soldier, 
raise an insurrection, capture the batteries, and turn them on 
the guards — the 4th of July, 1864, being set as the day for its 
execution. Through the perfidy of some of our own men^ 
or by the aid of spies, it was made known to the enemy, who 
made the necessary preparations to resist it, and gave us no- 
tice that upon the first attempt on our part to carry out such 
a scheme, they would open fire and keep it up while there 
was a prisoner left alive. This fact, coupled with the fearful 
slaughter of the sick and helpless, as well as of the able- 
bodied, which would be the inevitable result, caused us to 
abandon the enterprise. The rebels contented themselves 
with firing blank cartridges over the camp at intervals during 
the day, as a means of intimidation. 

" After the 2oth of July very few prisoners were brought 
to Anderson ville— none at all from the Army of the Po- 
tomac, and but few from Sherman's army. News was con- 
sequently scarce. An occasional rebel sheet fell into some 
one's possession, which was eagerly scanned by all who could 
get a chance at it. The sufferings were on the increase. 
Thousands were prostrated by scurvy and diarrhoea. Hopes 
of exchange or chances of escape grew less day by day. 
The poor men were carried off to the dead house by scores, 
weakened and dispirited by ' hope deferred,' added to dis- 



Il8 CAMP-FIRE CHATS OF THE CIVIL WAR. 

ease, exposure, and extreme heat. Nothing served to break 
the monotony made up of continual suffering and scenes of 
horror, for even the excitement of such a life, death, murder, 
thefts, and the ravings of lunatics crazed by suffering, became 
wearisome monotony to those whose vitals were pierced by the 
pangs of starvation and sensibilities blunted by contact 
with the unspeakable horrors of a living death. Captain 
Wirz, the subordinate commander, was daily seen riding 
through camp in his shirt sleeves on an old gray horse, like 
an emissary of Satan, inspecting the work of human des- 
truction. Brigadier-General Winder, commander of the 
post, never entered the camp, and is said never to have seen 
the inside of the stockade. The utter want of all feeling of 
humanity in these two men, as brought out at the trial of 
Captain Wirz in Washington, shows how well they were 
chosen to carry out the intentions of the authorities at Rich- 
mond. It almost surpasses belief that these men, instead of 
endeavoring to relieve, studied ways and means to add to the 
awful character of the situation. It is a matter of record that 
the authorities at the Confederate capital were cognizant of the 
situation. It is a matter of record that General Winder was 
acquainted with the condition of the prisoners; and to the 
everlasting dishonor of the men who held the reins of the 
rebel government, it is also a matter of record that nothing was 
done to relieve our sufferings. It is urged by some that the 
South was unable to do better by us. Granting that such 
was the case, we were guilty of no other crime than defend- 
ing our country, and common humanity would have de- 
manded our parole. To do battle for our flag and country is 
the least that any man can do, and is an honor rather than 
a crime punishable by slow torture and lingering death. But 
there is not even this poor excuse left, for it has been abund- 
antly proven that they did not do what they could, and that 
proof has come from Confederate sources. The official re- 



CAMP-FIRE CHATS OF THE CiViL WAR. 1 19 

port of Col. D. T. Chandler, an inspector-general in the rebel 
service, found on file in the archives of the Confederacy, 
dated August 5, 1864, in the time of our extreme suffering, 
forever silences all attempts to palliate this gigantic crime. At 
the trial of Captain Wirz, Colonel Chandler entirely verified 
this report, and stated that he had remonstrated with General 
Winder, suggested better food, draining the swamps, and 
other sanitary measures. To these humane suggestions Win- 
der replied, ' Better let one-half die, so that we can take care 
of the remainder.' I am giving a personal sketch for the 
benefit of the Society for the Preservation of Unpublished 
History, and let the society record that now, after more than 
nineteen years from the date of these events, my ingenuity 
fails to suggest anything that could be done that was not 
done to render our lives as prisoners and human beings most 
miserable. 

"During the hot months of July and August the suffer- 
ings were horrible to contemplate. The death-rate increased 
to I for every 6^. In August it stood i out of loy^i while 
in September it increased again to one out of every three! 
The latter rate is accounted for, however, by the fact that all 
but 10,000 of the prisoners, and those the worst cases, were 
sent to other points during this month, thus making a larger 
ratio of deaths in proportion to the number of prisoners than 
in any previous month, there being 31,693 prisoners in camp 
in August, and 8,218 in September. The total number of 
deaths in July was 4,742, an average of 154 per day. It 
always seemed to me providential that no contagious disease 
ever broke out in camp. Every death that occurred there 
was a monument to rebel barbarity. Great inducements 
were held out to our men to save their lives by taking the 
oath of allegiance to the rebels. They repeatedly told us that 
our government had deserted us and refused to exchange 
prisoners, thus practically abandoning us to our fate. In the 



I20 CAMP-FIRE CHATS OF THE CIVIL WAR. 

midst of our sufferings, with death staring us in the face on 
every side in its most horrible form, they held out for us our 
salvation — dishonor; but, thank God, the suffering boys pre- 
ferred death, and the rebel ranks were not augmented by 
recruits from Andersonville." 

This was greeted with applause and exclamations of 
" Three cheers for the Andersonville boys! " 

**The reputation of Andersonville as a place of cruelty," 
continued Mr. Bailey, " is world-renowned. Perhaps no 
place in history achieved a more unenviable name in the short 
period of fourteen months, than this insignificant spot. Its 
history from the 15th of February, 1864, when the first 
Union prisoner was received within its hated walls, to the 
loth of April, 1865, can never be justly written by pen, or 
told in language. The unfolding of the chapter of atrocities 
at the trial of Captain Wirz, was but a page. The 14,461 
names inscribed upon as many rude head-boards in the 
Andersonville cemetery, are significant of as many unwritten 
chapters of awful suffering and death. The 451 graves 
marked ' unknown ' tell a fearful story, — names and resting- 
places blotted out of existence; — no, shut out from human vis- 
ion only, not from the All-Seeing Eye of the Great Com- 
mander. Cruelties were perpetrated and sufferings endured, 
unparalleled in the history of civilization, and unapproached 
in the annals of barbarism, save by the bitter persecution of 
the early Christians, or the sufferings of the unfortunate 
Waldenses, in their Alpine retreats. Not less unrelenting in 
cruelty were these twin tyrants of modern times, Winder and 
Wirz, than the silver-veiled Prophet of the East, who held 
his victims by an oath imposed in the charnel-vault, and 
pledged in the blood of the dead." 

The camp-fire was adjourned, and the soldiers went quietly 
away, some of them shadowed by this appalling memory? 
while, with the others, for once hilarity was a foreign thing. 



X 



CAMP-FIRE IX. 

THE FI,0RBA:CE prison HOMEWARD BOUND PATHETIC 

INCIDENTS. 

tI^^USINEiSS being resumed Mr. Bailey continued his ex- 
perience: 

**2\oout the middle of September Sherman's army 
having pressed the forces of General Hood back too far for 
the safe keeping of prisoners at Andersonville, the camp was 
partially broken up, and most of the prisoners distributed be- 
tween Miiar, Ga., Cahawba, Ala., and Florence, S.C. About 
10,000 were retained at the old camp. It was my ill-fortune 
to be among those who were taken to Florence, where our 
sufferings were greatly increased by starvation and exposure 
to cold weather, as well as the unexampled brutality of our 
commanding officer. 

"On the 13th day of September, 1864, several thousand 
of the prisoners who had been confined at Andersonville were 
placed in caitie cars, destined for some point then unknown, 
— anywhere 10 escape Sherman. It was evident to us that it 
was somethnig of a question in the minds of our captors just 
where we snould be taken for safe keeping. On the 15th of 
the month we were unloaded at Florence, S. C, a town 106 
miles north of Charleston. No preparations had been made 
for our reception, and we were turned loose in open field, 
with a double chain of sentinels around us. Rations were 
not issued regularly for some time. Meal and rice were dealt 
out to us in a table-spoon, not exceeding three spoonfuls on 
some days. During the first three weeks of our stay at 

V3I 



132 CAMP-FIRE CHATS OF THE CIVIL WAR. 

Florence, the post was commanded by a lieutenant-colonel 
whose name I cannot now recall. He was a -very humane 
man, and was often moved to tears by the suffering and des- 
titution amongst the prisoners. He told me upon one occa- 
sion, just previous to leaving us, that he could not stay there 
and witness such suffering, — he would rather turn the prison- 
ers all loose. He had no heart for this phase of civil war. 
He had the kindness to tell the prisoners that, if any of 
them wanted to write home, he would himself deliver the 
letters on board the Union flag-of-truce boat. The Confed- 
erate postage was ten cents in silver, and as there were very 
few dimes among the prisoners, he paid the postage him- 
self. My letter reached home in Pennsylvania about two 
weeks afterward, but as all our letters were examined before 
passing the rebel lines, we were instructed to write nothing 
but pleasing news to our Northern friends. A letter I mailed 
at Andersonville July 4, I took from the post-office at Will- 
iamsport. Pa., myself in the following March. 

" Meanwhile a stockade was being erected in a neighboring 
wood,which, being completed,we entered October 2. We were 
formed into thousands, sub-divided into hundreds, instead of 
detachments of nineties and thirties, as at Andersonville. The 
camp was designated by the first, second, or third thousand, 
and so on. A stream also ran through this pen, but it was 
deeper and more rapid than the one at Andersonville, and gave 
us much better water. Soon came a change in commanding 
officers. One Lieutenant Barrett, formerly of General Mor- 
gan's staff, it was said, whose natural ferocity and brutal 
cruelty I have never seen equaled, was placed in charge of 
the camp. He was employed previous to the war as a slave 
driver, and was a better tool in the hands of leading ai:'thor- 
ities for the handling of prisoners according to the code than 
the gentleman whom he succeeded. His ' culcha ' and early 
training eminently qualified him for the position of a human 



CAMP-FIRE CHATS OF THE CIVIL WAR. 1 23 

butcher. For trivial causes he would ' Tannerize ' the entire 
camp for two or three days in succession. This was bad 
enough for well-fed men, but for half-starved wretches it was 
simply horrible. I have seen him, for punishment to a man 
trying to escape, tie up the poor unfortunate by the thumbs, 
his toes just reaching the ground, and kick his feet from 
under him, laughing at his shrieks of pain as his whole weight 
was ^suspended on his thumbs. He would continue this 
amusement until the poor fellow's thumbs would burst open 
from the pressure. I have also seen him take a club in hand, 
and walk through camp, swinging it right and left, hitting 
any who were too weak to get out of his way. I have seen 
him stand on the rail over the gate leading into camp, and 
lire his revolver at random amongst the prisoners. These 
few instances of the brutal character of Lieutenant Barrett, to 
which I might add many more, will show you how well the 
men were selected for the accomplishment of the purposes 
intended toward Union prisoners. 

" The pen at Florence was modeled very much after the 
style of the one at Andersonville, only much smaller in ex- 
tent. The ' dead line ' was not forgotten. It offered too 
good an opportunity to shoot prisoners to be omitted. Many 
a man went to his long home who accidentally passed its 
boundaries, for in many places the railing would get torn 
down, and the line between life and death could only be dis- 
tinguished by the fact that no footprints were visible on the 
other side. The commissary building was just outside 
the gate leading from the camp, and was generally well- 
stocked with provisions which, however, were dealt out spar- 
ingly enough to us. The weather was now getting colder, and 
the fall rains added much to our discomfort. Meat was left 
out of our rations altogether, and our meal or rice was re- 
duced to one pint per day, and a half teaspoonful of salt 
every second day, varied occasionally with beans instead of 



124 CAMP-FIRE CHATS OF THE CIVIL WAR. 

meal. Clothing was worn threadbare; our knees and el- 
bows began to be visible through well-worn holes. Affairs 
looked dismal. The change of camp had deprived me of my 
Plymouth friends, they having been sent to Milan. Fortu- 
nately the new stockade had been erected on the site of a piece 
of woods, and the brush and limbs trimmed off the logs used 
in its construction had been left stacked up in heaps on the 
ground. I joined in with eight others, belonging to the old 
Bucktail regiment, and confiscated a pile of this brush and 
limbs, and commenced the erection of a shelter, which, by 
great labor under difficulties, we accomplished. We first 
dug down about two feet in the earth, and stood up tlie limbs 
like the roof of a house, or after the style of an 'A' tent. We 
then covered the limbs with a light brush, and on top of that 
put the earth which we had dug out. Our only tool for this 
purpose was a half canteen. It was slow work, weak and 
hungry as we were, but we finished in about ten days, and 
fiom that time had a partial shelter from the weather. This 
effort on our part undoubtedly went far toward the preserva- 
tion of our lives, and it was needed, as we began to be much 
reduced by short rations and want of meat. We took the pre- 
caution to bury all the surplus wood we could get to prevent 
it from being stolen, for wood soon became as scarce as at 
Andersonville. The majority of prisoners were less fortunate 
in this respect, than we. Many poor wretches burrowed in 
the earth to gain shelter from wind and rain, and soon lost all 
appearance of human beings. Scarcely had our shelter been 
completed, when a calamity happened to one of our num- 
ber, which shed a dark cloud over our household. One of our 
comrades had gone down to the brook to procure water, 
which we were In the habit of getting by walking out on a 
log across the stream close to the ' dead line.' The morning 
was wet and muddy, and the log was in consequence very 
slippery. While in the act of reaching down for water, he 



CAMP-FIRE CHATS OF THE CIVIL WAR. I35 

slipped and fell off the log over the ' dead line ' into the 
water, about two feet deep. The guard immediately shot 
him. Some of us hearing the shot ran down, half suspect- 
ing the state of affairs, and implored the guard to let us take 
him out, but not until the officer of the guard with a squad of 
men came to the spot and covered us with their rifles, were 
we permitted to lift out our friend, who breathed his last as 
we laid him on the bank. Such cold-blooded murder of 
Union prisoners under circumstances without a shadow of 
justification were of daily occurrence, and we felt our man- 
hood crushed to the very earth, being powerless to resist such 
atrocities. 

" The police system established at Andersonville became 
the ruling power at Florence. While it was far from perfect, 
it was better than no control at all, and although the bounds 
of justice were frequently passed in the display of self-consti- 
tuted authority, yet life and rights were comparatively safe to 
the mass. The ordinary punishment of criminals consisted of 
a prescribed number of lashes on the bare back, or running 
the gauntlet and dodging what blows the prisoner's tactics 
and ability would permit. I am satisfied that the trial of 
Guiteau at the police court of either Andersonville or 
Florence, would have been conducted without the aid of red 
tape, and ended entirely to the satisfaction of the American 
people in less than two hours. 

" During the month of November we passed our darkest 
days of misery and distress. We got up hungry and cold in 
the morning, and laid down at night the same. The rations 
were again reduced in quantity, and men were brought to the 
direst extremities. I have seen men, impelled by hunger, ac- 
complish feats which cannot be described here. 

"Even the rumors of exchange, which had been put in 
circulation from time to time to raise the drooping spirits of 
the despondent, died out. The brave hearts who dared to 



126 CAMP-FIRE CHATS OF THE CIVIL WAR. 

hope against hope were daily growing fewer, so utterly de- 
serted did we seem to be by the outer world. For simple 
pretexts our poor food was often denied us, and many men 
were rendered insane by the pangs of hunger. Many a long 
night we lay sleepless from cold, wet and hunger, when it 
seemed as though one were in the regions of the damned. 
Men crazed and idiotic from starvation rambled by scores and 
hundreds through camp, raving lunatics, muttering their un- 
intelligible moanings, their eye-balls protruding with a wild, 
unearthly glare, faces and bodies thin and emaciated — they 
seemed like ghostly apparitions from the unknown worlds 
making night frightful with groans of terror, and wails of 
despair. Many were in this condition who were men of edu- 
cation and ability, and had been reared in refined and com- 
fortable homes. The only hope of escape from this awful 
state of affairs held out to us, was the oath of allegiance to 
the Confederacy. Their recruiting officers were daily in 
camp, and some were induced, as the only means of preserv- 
ing their lives, to take the oath and join the rebel army, re- 
solving to escape at the first opportunity. A Canadian by 
the name of Haley, with whom I was acquainted, was 
among those v^ho took the oath and went out. He had be- 
longed to the English army in Canada, and, deserting it, 
joined the Union army; then deserting our side, joined the 
rebels, and when I arrived at parole . camp, Annapolis, a 
month later, his was the first familiar face I saw. He had 
been placed on picket guard, and deserted the rebels within a 
week after he got out of Florence. But to the majority of 
us, the idea was worse than death. They might torture us 
w^ith cruelty, they might kill us with starvation; but compel 
us to swear allegiance to a band of traitors whose purpose it 
was to destroy the best government God ever gave to man, 
they could not. 

" During the first of this month our government sue- 



CAMP-FIRE CHATS OF THE CIVIL WAR. 1 27 

ceeded in sending through the lines a quantity of blankets for 
our use, but very few of them ever got into our possession. 
We were drawn up into line by hundreds, and marched sin- 
gle file past a bag containing six black beans and ninety-four 
white ones. Each prisoner drew out a bean; those who held 
black beans got blankets, — six to cover a hundred men. The 
remainder of the blankets were confiscated by the rebels. 
The number of sick and helpless increased so fast that a hos- 
pital was formed in a corner of the stockade, attended by two 
or three rebel surgeons. Not the least of the dangers to be 
avoided was gangrene. One of our comrades named Rob- 
erts, a very promising 3^oung man, had hurt his foot slightly 
before leaving Andersonville. From a minute scratch it de- 
veloped into a serious wound, until finally he was taken to 
the hospital and had his foot amputated. But it was too late 
— the virulent poison had penetrated his entire system. He 
used to come from the hospital to see us as long as he could, 
but his visits ceased, and, as we were not permitted to go and 
see him, his light went out alone and among strangers. These 
were our darkest hours. The sands in the hour glass were 
running low. Day by day we grew weaker and more help- 
less, and yet the time of deliverance seemed no nearer than at 
first. 

" Daily we visited among our friends and acquaintances to 
see how each was getting along — to learn who had been 
touched by the death messenger, and who were left; to re- 
ceive and impart messages to be carried by the survivors to 
far-off friends whom we might not see again; to exchange 
farewells with the dying; to look at the living with the mute 
inquiry, Who among us will be the next? I remember, as 
if but yesterday, sitting by the side of a dying comrade, who 
said, ' Frank, we were boys together, living as neighbors ; we 
went to school together (and here the tears rolled down his 
cheeks), but I am going fast, and all that is left of Oscar 



128 CAMP-FIRE CHATS OF THE CIVIL WAR. 

Henry will soon be carried to the deadhouse. When you go 
back 1 want you to go and see my poor old mother — tell her 
that I died like a man.' Such were the messages which 
weighed down our already heavy hearts. It seemed to us 
then that if we could be permitted to take one more look at 
home and friends, and a hearty meal around the family table, 
our fondest expectations on this earth would be fully realized. 
" But 'tis well that the sun does not always remain below 
the horizon. With what delight we hailed the first rays of 
morning light! On the morning of November 27 the first 
thousand was marched outside the stockade, and the sickest 
and most destitute ones selected for parole and taken to Sa- 
vannah. The next morning the second thousand, to which I 
belonged, was called out. As the examining surgeon passed 
down the lines, selecting the worst cases, for once in my life I 
desired to look sick. He stopped before me, and asked a few 
questions, which I answered as well as my throbbing heart 
and the lump in my throat would allow. He then said, ''Tou 
may go!"* Controlling my emotions as best I could, I went 
forward and signed the parole. Those of us who had signed 
the parole were permitted to sleep outside the stockade that 
night, though well guarded; while those less fortunate were 
marched back to the bull pen. Early next morning we got 
on freight cars destined for Charleston, where we arrived in 
the evening. But alas! we learned to our sorrow that the 
Union General Foster had intercepted communications to 
Savannah, whither we were going for exchange. This is the 
only instance I can think of when a Union victory was un- 
welcome news. This one was ill-timed and out of place. 
We remained in Charleston three days, waiting to go through. 
Our forces were shelling the city all the time, and no arrange- 
ments could be effected for our transfer to the Union lines. 
We were again placed on cars and our faces turned toward 
the * bull pen ' at Florence. Many desperate efforts were 



CAMP-FIRE CHATS OF THE CIVIL WAR. 1 29 

made to escape that day by jumping from the cars. The 
guards kept up a desultory fire from the roofs of the cars to 
show that they were on the alert. Our aspect was sorrowfLil 
and our hearts sad as we once more entered that hated, 
dreaded place; it seemed as if fate had conspired against us. 

" Once more our drooping spirits were revived. On the 
5th of December we were again called out, and taken back 
to Charleston that night. It was a ride long to be remem- 
bered. The cars were not only filled inside but on top. We 
traveled all night, over a hundred miles, with a strong, cold, 
December wind in our faces. I crouched behind a large man 
with an overcoat on, who had laid down on the car roof, to 
shield, if possible, my bare knees and elbows from the piti- 
less storm. When morning came and our destination was 
reached, we were ordered to get off and embark on a steamer 
lying at the wharf. I tried to arouse my strange friend 
whom I had used as a fortification during the night, but he 
was dead! — ^paroled with us, but gone home before us. 
About 9 o'clock in the morning the rebel steamer started for 
Fort Sumter, where me met our own boat, to which we were 
transferred, within a mile of its battered walls. The emotions 
that filled our hearts at the sight of the old Stars and Stripes 
waving above our heads, it is impossible to describe. It was 
like a dream. The tears would come from very joy — a joy 
that will endure while life lasts, for I can never refer to that 
moment of supreme relief, without a full heart. As soon as 
we were on board our steamer, we received a new suit of 
clothes and a clean meal. We laid down that night with 
lighter hearts than we had had for many a long month. The 
next day we were transferred to an ocean steamer, and sailed 
* homeward-bound ' from Charleston harbor. 

"A few months later, on the field of Appomattox, some of 
us were permitted to step across the ' bloody chasm,' and re- 
ceive the stacked arms and drooping battle-flags which de- 
9 



130 CAMP-FIRE CHATS OF THE CIVIL WAR, 

noted the downfall of rebellion, and assured us that our suf- 
ferings had not been in vain. 

" The incidents I have related form but an individual ex- 
perience, the half untold, in a chapter which one might al- 
most wish had never been written. When I look back and 
review my experience as a prisoner, I am, at times, disposed 
to doubt my own senses, or the soundness of my mind — so 
incredible does it appear that such barbarities would be al- 
lowed within the pale of civilization. But the world will 
not suffer the memory of such atrocities to die. How well 
they carried out their threats of extermination is proved by 
testimony more conclusive than was ever brought to bear on 
a similar case. 

" The time has passed to inquire whether punishment has 
been meted out to the authors of this suffering, but there will 
come a day when the angel of justice will uncover the silent 
mounds ot earth, and bid the scores of thousands of ghastly, 
emaciated victims of Southern prison pens come forth and 
confront the keepers at the bar of the great Unerring Judge, 
indicting them with blacker crimes than the world will ever 
know, because it is impossible for human mind to compre- 
hend, or words borne on human tongue to tell, the suffering 
prescribed to Union prisoners; and though the full extent 
will ever remain an unwritten chapter of the war, T am 
pleased to know that the Society for the Preservation of Un- 
published History has heard what remarks I myself have 




CAMP-FIRE X. 

WAR ON THE WATER DARING DEEDS — HOW MANY REGI- 
MENTS EACH MAN CAPTURED REMARKABLE ESCAPES 

THE BIGGEST LIAR IN THE WAR. 

^^JIPILL the Society for the Preservation of Unpubhshed 
Wn^Mk History be pleased to hear of a romance on a river?" 
(^=§^1 inquired Mr. L. D. Simonds, late acting master, 
mate of the United States Steamer General Thomas. 

" No! " said the temperate S. P. U. H. « Water is for- 
eign to our nature. Away back in the reign of Abraham I, 
sixteenth adviser-general to Uncle Sam, when we w"ere but a 
few years old, our mother was accustomed to wash our 
fevered cheeks with the hated fluid. Thence to now be it 
known that eternal total abstinence is sworn. Never mention 
that name to us again." 

But for the benefit of posterity, which argument always 
hits a weak side of the S. P. U. H., the Society was per- 
suaded to listen, and Mr. Simonds proceeded: 

" When General Hood, on his march to Nashville, Tenn., 
halted his command at Decatur, Ala., he threw out his skir- 
mishers, and placed his artillery in position on the river bank, 
expecting to capture the pontoon bridge, cross over his army, 
march on to Nashville, and then make a bold strike to save 
the Confederacy. But the sequel proved that he counted 
without his host. 

" The U. S. Steamer General Thomas at this time was 
stationed at Decatur, with orders to patrol the river to a point 
about thirty miles above Decatur, reserving what coal we had 



132 CAMP-FIRE CHATS OF THE CIVIL WAR. 

to bank the fires, and to confiscate rails along the river for 
fuel while under way, as the river at that time was so low 
that we could not get to Bridgeport to lay in a supply of coal, 

"At the time mentioned, the General Thotnas was some 
twelve or fifteen miles above Decatur. Captain Morton was 
pacing the hurricane deck, enjoying a good smoke from his 
meerschaum pipe, when all of a sudden- he stopped, turned 
around, took his pipe from his mouth, and listened for several 
seconds. Then he resumed his pacing, but presently halted 
again in his reverie — listened, turned, and called out to Mr. 
Johnson, the pilot: 

" * Did you hear anything, sir? ' 

" Mr Johnson replied that he did not. The captain once 
more resumed his pacing the deck. Some seconds elapsed, 
when the captain suddenly stopped again. 

" ' There, sir! ' said he, ' did you not hear that?' 

" ' Well, captain, I believe I did hear something that 
sounded like a cannon shot.' 

" Once more the same distant rumbling sound echoed up 
and down the valley. There was no mistaking it — it was a 
sound that had become familiar to every veteran of the war, 
the noise of artillery. Immediately the orders were given to 
round to and steam down the river. The engines were re- 
versed, and down the river we went. Hammocks were taken 
out of the nettings and stowed around the boilers, and every 
precaution was taken to prevent any disaster to the boat. 
The men were beat to quarters, the guns run in, and port 
l;oles closed. We soon neared a small creek running into the 
Tennessee, about five miles above Decatur. We landed, and 
all hands were piped ashore to rail up. Some two hours 
were thus consumed. 

" Opposite to us and in the middle of the river, lay an 
army gunboat at anchor, manned by an Indiana battery, 
which was commanded by Captain Naylor. The captain 



CAMP-FIRE CHATS OF THE CIVIL WAR. 133 

had gone to Decatur, to confer with General Granger, and 
left the boat in charge of the first lieutenant, with only twen- 
ty-three pounds of steam — almost in sight of, and in range of 
the rebel batteries. iVll hands were aboard, lines were cast 
off, the gang-plank hauled in, and orders given to back out, 
and steam down the river to the scene of action, when a cloud 
of dust was seen in the distance. As it came nearer, the clat- 
ter of horses' feet were heard. A little nearer, a squad of 
cavalry were seen. Nearer and nearer they approached, un- 
til a bend in the road hid the horsemen from view. Suddenly 
an officer dashed down to the river side, who proved to be 
Captain Naylor, of the army gunboat, returning from De- 
catur, with an escort of cavalry. The cutter of the General 
Thomas was called away to bring the captain on board. It 
came alongside, and Captain Naylor was met at the gang- 
way by the captain, boatswain, and two other men. 

" By the way, Captain Morton was what was termed an 
old Salter. As brave a man as ever trod a deck, and a strict 
disciplinarian, though he was kind and courteous to the officers 
and men under him; but like other men, he had his faults, 
the principal one of which was profanity. 

" ' Well, Captain Morton,' said Captain Naylor, as he en- 
tered the gangway, ' Hood has twenty-three pieces of artil- 
lery stationed on the river bank to prevent us from coming 
down to help General Granger.' 

" * I don't care a if they have 200 pieces,' returned 

Morton. 

" ' Well, they'll blow us clear out of the water if we un- 
dertake to run by — that's all there is of that,' replied Captain 
Naylor. 

" ' I don't give a ; I might as well be blown out of 

the water here as any other place, and by I am goin' 

down to help that fort out, if I get blowed to h — 1. You can 
follow me or stay where you are.' 



134 CAMP-FIRE CHATS OF THE CIVIL WAR. 

"* Well, captain, wherever you go, you can depend upon 
my following, let the consequences be what they may,' said 
Captain Naylor, resigned to his fate. 

" 'All right — get up steam and follow me. Signal, when 
you have steam enough.' 

« Captain Naylor then stepped into his own cutter, which 
by this time had come alongside, and was rowed to his own 
boat. In about fifteen minutes afterward, he signaled the 
General Thomas^ 'AH ready!' and we rounded to and sped 
on our way down the river. 

" The first intimation we had of the presence of the 
enem}^, was about one mile below the mouth of the creek, 
when a shot from the gun of a sharpshooter struck the case- 
mate, just above the port-hole abaft the larboard wheel- 
house, which instantly caused me to take my head out of the 
way. Immediately after came several shots from the same 
direction, and from equally as good marksmen. Orders came 
from the pilot-house through the trumpet, to shift the star- 
board guns to the larboard side, and prepare for action. This 
was done in the twinkling of an eye, and a shot from one of 
our bow guns went crashing, tearing, and plowing its way 
through the timber, on and on, until it exploded in the midst 
of Stuart's cavalry, which was massed about three-quarters of 
a mile back from the river, and caused considerable commo- 
tion in their ranks. Another, and another followed its prede- 
cessor, when presently the rebel batteries opened fire, making 
it lively for us the rest of our way. Things began to be 
a little dangerous. A shot came plowing its way abaft 
the larboard wheel-house, carrying with it a piece of the 
inner casemate, striking one of the men at the gun on the 
head, and knocking him senseless. The same shot struck a 
stanchion, just forward of the magazine hatchway, knocking 
the captain's cook over, and maiming him for life, then passed 
out through the starboard wheel-house. Another came 



CAMP-FIRE CHATS OF THE CIVIL WAR. I35 

through the hull of the boat, about two feet forward of the 
magazine; another still further forward, two inches above 
the water line; another passed through the upper and after part 
of the larboard wheel-house, thence through the pilot's state- 
room, carrying with it one-half of the pilot's dress coat-tail,.and 
came out through the second assistant engineer's room, taking 
with it a feather pillow; another found its way through, and 
exploded in our pantry, breaking every dish we had, scattn-- 
ing the beans, flour, and dishes in all directions. At this time 
the captain's steward was passing through the wood-room on 
his way to the captain's cabin, and a piece of the shell struck 
him on the back, tearing a fearful gash. He afterward died 
in hospital. 

" About two miles above Decatur there is a bend in the 
river, and as our boat came into view, both sides ceased fight- 
ing, to witness a beautiful river sight, for it was supposed that 
our boat was on fire, as nothing could be seen of it, save one 
massive sheet of flame and smoke — so rapid was the firing. 
Had we hugged the north shore as was su2:)posed by the 
Johnnies, the probabilities are that there would have been but 
few of us left. Instead of this, the captain hugged the south 
shore, right under the very muzzle of the enemy's guns, 
which saved us. As we passed the batteries and came op- 
posite the fort, we rounded to, and gave them a parting sa- 
lute with our two bow guns, and such a cheer as rent the air 
from our boys in the fort, only those who heard it know. 

" Hostilities ceased, and the enemy withdrew, leaving us 
in our glory. That night they moved farth'^.r down the 
river, where they succeeded in making a crossing, and 
marched on to Nashville. 

" I must not forget Captain Naylor and the brave boys 
under his command, who so gallantly followed us in running 
the gauntlet. No one but a bfave man would have followed 
us, knowing the position and strength of the enemy, as he 



136 CAMP-FIRE CHATS OF THE CIVIL WAR. 

did ; and, above all, his boat was not even protected by a case- 
mate. He fared, however, even better than we did, for he 
lost only one man, whose head was taken off by a shot, and 
rolled out into the river; and, I believe, one or two slightly 
wounded. 

" The following day Captain Naylor, our executive offi- 
cer, second assistant engineer, another officer, and myself 
went ashore, and procuring a horse each from the quarter- 
master, rode over the field of action. As we neared the river 
bank, we could see coat sleeves torn to shreds, a man's 
orm here, a leg there, and pieces of ammunition chests and 
caisson wheels scattered in all directions. All over the field 
could be seen what death and destruction we had dealt out to 
the enemy. In our ride over the field, we came to a planter's 
house, dismounted and went in, and from the planter's wife 
we learned that General Stuart had massed his cavalry on 
their plantation. When our first shot was fired, it came tear- 
ing its way through the woods, exploded in their midst, killed 
several, and wounded quite a number of others. One shot 
from our guns blew up a caisson and killed fifty men. 
Another dismounted one of their guns, and tore the gun 
carriage to pieces. 

" The day following, the troops commenced to evacuate 
Decatur, and fall back toward Nashville. The orders from 
General Granger were to destroy the pontoons after the 
troops had all passed over, which destruction was placed 
under my charge. Through much tribulation, and receiving 
a good many shots from the rebel sharpshooters, I succeeded, 
with the assistance of some of the troops, in accomplishing 
this, and we went on down the river." 

" Speaking of throwing shells into the woods," said Mr. 
C. E. Harden, of Co. F, 36th Illinois, " reminds me of a 
peculiar little anecdote: 

" On the day previous to the evacuation of Charleston, 




i 



138 CAMP-FIRE CHATS OF THE CIVIL WAR. 

vS. C, a shot was fired from one of the Island batteries (I 
think Morris Island), marked with chalk or paint,' Good for 
yames Street^ and strange as it may appear, it dropped in 
James Street, and was pointed out to me by an old citizen, 
in the last of February, 1864, who remarked that no other 
shot had come near as far, and he knew it was a bad omen, 
for that night the city was evacuated. I would like for tiie 
comrade who fired that shot to know that it fulfilled its 
mission." 

In behalf of posterity, the S. P. U. H. took due note of 
this. 

" That reminds me of a strange occurrence," said the 
colonel of the 40th Ohio, " about the most curious incident 
that I met with durin;^ the war. 

*' In February, 1S64, our brigade was encamped at Blue 
Springs, Tenn. Sherman, who was with his forces then 
at or near Vicksburg, intended to make an advance upon 
the rebels at Jackson, Miss. In order that Joe Johnston 
should not go to the relief of the Jackson forces, we, with 
the other troops, were ordered to make a demonstration in 
his front, and for that purpose moved down toward Dalton, 
Ga., before and around which place his troops were located. 
It was not the design, apparently, to do much fighting, but 
to make a pretence of it, and to engage his troops so com- 
pletely that they could not be withdrawn. We marched and 
counter-marched, and fired our guns, and set fire to the leaves 
and woods, and made the rebels believe we were going to 
devour them bodily. After three or four days of this kina 
of manoeuvering, our object was accomplished, and we with- 
drew and went back to camp. 

"The incident I refer to occurred just as we were with- 
drawing our skirmish line. I went along the skirmish line 
of our brigade, to withdraw the men as quietly as possible. 
The line was stretched along the north side of a gorge, or 



CAMP-FIRE CHATS OF THE CIVIL WAR. I39 

deep ravine, which was some two hundred yards wide. The 
rebel skirmish Hne was posted along the south side of this 
ravine, so that between the two lines there was clear space, 
and the men on either side were plainly discernible to each 
other, when they exposed themselves by leaving their cover. 

" As I withdrew man after man, I finally came to a mem- 
ber of Company C, who was standing behind a tree, and who, 
at the instant I stepped up to him, had just fired, and was tak- 
ing his gun down. He looked curiously at the muzzle of 
it, and I asked him what was the matter, when he pointed 
to the gun, and said: 

" * Look there! That rebel's bullet went square into that 
barrel ! ' 

" And sure enough, the rebel ball had gone directly into 
the barrel, just as he had fired. It met his own ball about 
five inches from the muzzle, and the concussion of the two 
burst the barrel, making an opening some three inches long, 
and about half an inch wide. The muzzle of the gun was 
unbroken and not abraded. Both the balls were flattened 
and welded together. The rebel ball, just as the Company C 
man fired, had gone straight into his gun barrel, and met his 
own ball, which was on its way to pay its respects to the fel- 
low across the ravine. The Company C man said that he 
and that Johnny had been firing at each other for some time. 

" If our man had held his gun one thirty -second part of 
an inch up or down, to the right or to the left, from the 
position in which he did hold it, the rebel ball would have 
crashed into his brain, instead of going into the barrel of his 
gun, and I would have found a corpse at that tree, instead of 
a man wondering at the incident that had occurred." 

Doctor Watson, of Company B, 53d Illinois, then related 
this remarkable experience, which shows how many regi- 
ments one man can sometimes capture: 

"On the 24th of February, 1864, sixteen men and myself 



140 CAMP-FIRE CHATS OF THE CIVIL WAR. 

were detailed to go out foraging to procure meat, meal and 
flour for our regiment. At this time, we had a large foraging 
party detailed from each regiment in the corps, as we had 
started from the rear of Vicksburg for Meridian, Miss., with 
quarter rations for ten days, and had been out some twenty- 
five days; so that we had to subsist off the country. Subse- 
quently we were detailed from the foraging party to act as 
alarm guard, with orders to join the main squad at Willis' 
plantation, near Katley's Ferry, on Pearl River. 

"At 4 o'clcock in the afternoon, after staying on post, 
and running around over the surrounding country all day, we 
started to join the main squad at the appointed rendezvous. 
On coming out from some timber to the main Canton road, — 
we were twelve miles from Canton, Miss., — and looking up 
the road toward Willis' place, we saw a body of men. We 
supposed, of course, that they were our own squad, when 
behold! they ran up their colors (detailed foraging parties 
never carry colors), and so we saw at once that we were 
facing the Johnnies, the first we had seen on our trip, and 
now were nearly back to Vicksburg, after going to Meridian, 
Miss., and accomplishing that for which we went, — tearing 
up railroads. It seemed to me, as I sat on my horse there, 
and looked at those Johnnies, as if there were a whole divi- 
sion of them. 

" While we remained in the timber, looking at the John- 
nies and debating what to do, another regiment went by us 
on the road, not over twenty rods from where we were. We 
concluded that the regiment that had passed us were our own 
men, and decided to give the enemy the best we had, and 
then vamoose ; so we rode up to the fence and fired all at once. 
I tell you we shook them up terribly. 

" We kept up a lively fire for a time, and then became 
bold. With a dash we rode up to the Johnnies, — about four 
or five regiments, — and demanded their surrender, telling 



CAMP-FIRE CHATS OF THE CIVIL WAR. I4I 

them that our troops were just coming out of the woods. 
One of our boys, Dan Buckley, of the 14th Iowa, was espe- 
cially bold. Riding up to an Alabama colonel, he placed a 
revolver to the colonel's head, and said: 

" ' Surrender, you rascal! ' 

" Of course the colonel accepted the inevitable and sur- 
rendered. We were just thinking what we would do with 
our prey until we could get assistance, — sixteen men against 
6,000, — when to our mortification the supposed Federal 
troops which passed us in the woods came up, proving to be 
the 56th Alabama Johnnies. 

" ' Now, then,' said our Alabama colonel, whom we had 
just taken prisoner, 'who has the trump card? No more of 
your Yankee tomfoolery, — give us your guns.' 

" * I — I — beg your pardon, colonel,' said Buckley. 

"'Not much; there's no pardon for audacity of your 
kind,' returned the colonel. ' I guess you're destined for 
Andersonvllle, where, sure enough, we did go, and thence to 
Florence, where we remained over nine months." 

"The bursting of that gun, in the incident previous to the 
last," said Mr. H. H. Armstead, " has called up an incident 
at the battle of Nashville, where we dispersed Hood's arm_v. 

" The Johnnies had been throwing shells into our vicinity, 
and it began to be somewhat dangerous where I was. The 
boys had been very fortunate in dodging shells, but finally one 
of the cavalrymen near us, — his name was J. M. A. — became 
separated from his company, and his horse began to plunge 
and rear. The horse had just avoided two or three shells, 
but finally he turned his head to the left and one struck 
him in the shoulder, plowing clear through him, and taking 
him with great force from under the rider, who was left 
uninjured, except that his clothes were torn, and he received 
a few slight bruises from the saddle, as it passed from under 
him." 



142 CAMP-EIRE CHATS OF THE CIVIL WAR. 

"Hold on, boys! give us a rest on tlie stories. I feel like 
singing. All pitch in:" 






I feel like, I feei like, I feel ; I feel like, I feel like, I feel. 

(Sing that 1,000 times for the first verse. Sing it 2,000 times for the second 
verse, and so on. When you have sung a hundred verses, stop and rest before 
you start on the 101st verse.) 

"What kind of a song is that? you say. Why! it^s a 
condensed song — compressed — a good deal in it — like the 
desiccated vegetables." 

"Here is something that we used to eat during the war," 
said a veteran, and he held up a piece of something that ap- 
peared precisely like a plug of "navy tobacco" an inch or 
more thick, and about fourteen inches square. 

" It looks (as has just been observed) like a huge piece 
of tobacco, and oftentimes t^.e boys would have readily 
traded pieces of it for ka/f its, ^velght in that luxury. The 
designation donated to it by the War Department was ' dessi- 
cated vegetables;' but the bof-s changed it to 'desecrated,' 
which we thought more appropriate, for soldiers delight to 
call things by ttT&ir right names. The statement may seem 
strange, but we actually made soup of the stuff of which I hold 
a sample in my hand, even though people not acquainted 
with the substance be unable to guess its use from appearance. 
Yes, my dear comrades, you all remember how many a 
mess we've had from this material. I remember one inci- 
dent connected with its introduction among us/'' 

The speaker here tossed the piece of pressed vegetables 
to the S. P. U. H., arid after a casual scrutiny it was placed 
under close scientific analysis, and was found to contain the 
following ingredients: 

1. Onions, with husks on. 

2. Potatoes, prepared to be cooked in three styles. 

^. Corn, with no particular pains taken to omit the cobs. 



CAMP-FIRK CHATS OF THE CIVIL WAR. 143 

4. Beans, strung, unstrung, Boston, shelled, unshellcd, 
and otherwise. 

5. Cabbages, leaves, head, stalk and roots. 

6. Tomatoes, dried, with an occasional vine hung on; 
though the latter was not necessary, and hence not always 
appended. This last observation will also apply to the roots 
of cabbages and husks of onions. 

7. Sweet potatoes, occasionally a small piece, being very 
scarce and expensive. The vines were unattached to this 
ingredient. 

8. Parsnips, the previous year's growth, which were 
strictly fibrous, and unable to be masticated. 

9. Pumpkins, the cow variety. 

10. Lettuce, radishes, parsley, celery, garlic, squash, 
horseradish, carrots, asparagus, mustard, and all other vege- 
tables and semi-vegetables not included in the foregoing list. 
If anything in the vegetable line was not represented in each 
piece, it was not the fault of the manufacturers. It is said to 
be recorded that at one time a purse was made up among the 
boys, to be given to one who could name something which 
could not be found in these pieces of " desecrated vegetables.'* 
After numerous guesses the task was given up, and the purse 
had to be distributed among the original donors. 

The ingredients were first dried separately, then pressed 
and dried together, then compressed and redried, until they 
occupied the smallest space possible. In their primary condi- 
tion, fresh from the vines, three or four of these chunks of 
vegetables, 14x14x11^ inches, would make nearly a wagon 
load of produce. After compressing and drying they could 
almost be put into a peck measure. They were mixed to- 
gether without much regard for quality or proportion, then 
cut into pieces of regular size, as before stated. 

But after all the hard things that were said about « dessi- 
cated vegetables," they proved a boon to the army, though 



144 CAMP-FIRE CHATS OF THE CIVIL WAR. 

they did not appear as a part of the regular rations until 1864. 
When they were issued, they supplied a real meal, since fresh 
vegetables could not be obtained under any circumstances 
during the winter months. By compressing the vegetables 
they could be shipped and handled with more facility, but a 
single incident will illustrate how some of the cooks were for- 
getful of the swelling principle in such vegetables as beans, 
rice, etc. 

" When < dessicated vegetables' were first issued to us, I 
remember," continuedl'the speaker, " one cake was dealt out 
to each company as vegetable rations for three days. This 
preparation at first sight did not look very palatable, and 
when it was passed to the respective messes (numbering 
six to eight in each mess) the boys respectively and respect- 
fully refused to eat any of this universal succotash, even if 
the cooks were willing to serve it. 

" On the other hand, the cooks for each mess refused to 
use it, and so the whole cake went the rounds without being 
broken, until it came at last, to our mess, which numbered six 
of as venturesome fellows as any company in the regiment 
could boast. Our cook, a fellow by the name of Leander 
Turner, also refused to have anything to do with the new 
style of vegetable, since all the boys had come to the con- 
clusion that, if they would give it a positive letting alone, the 
quartermaster would not issue it any more. 

" But we told our cook to fix it up, whatever the results- 
we wanted to see what it would look like. Accordingly he 
gratified us. He took the regular ten-gallon camp kettle, 
nearly filled it with water, saying as he did so: 

"' Well, let's try some soup from the fodder,' and he put 
the whole cake into the kettle of boiling water. Ere long 
the beans began to swell, the rice grains to grow larger, the 
dried corn extended its dimensions, and the other vegetables 
began to resume something of their original proportions; it is 



CAMP-FIRE CHATS OF THE CIVIL WAR. 145 

to be held in mind that this was only the beginnings though 
the 196 cubic inches of dried and pressed vegetables even at 
this time had absorbed most of the water, and were creeping 
over the sides of the kettle, having already pushed out into 
the fire a huge piece of meat, which had been put into the 
kettle before the vegetables had been put in. 

"'What in thunder Ml I do with all this darn truck?' 
asked the cook, as the vegetables kept on coming out of the 
top of the ten-gallon kettle, and gave unmistakable evidence 
that they were burning in the bottom. 

"'Jim, bring anuther kittle,' he said, speaking to the 
waiter boy. 

" The boy brought another kettle, which was partly filled 
with water, and enough vegetables were taken from the first 
kettle and placed in it until the second kettle, too, was full. 
Then more water was put into the first kettle. But the cook 
had again miscalculated, for all of the water poured in the 
first time had been absorbed by less than half of the dried 
vegetables, so that there was almost as much cause for swell- 
ing the second time as the first. Add to this the fact that the 
kettle was already dry and almost red-hot in the bottom 
so that as soon as possible water was poured in again, and 
when it had time to penetrate to the bottom, sufficient 
steam was immediately generated to bring about only one 
result — a terrific explosion, sufficiently loud to scare the cook 
near unto death, and cause most of those who heard it to 
start for their arms, while the manner in which it fared w^ith 
the vegetables in the kettle can be summed up in a few 
words: The cook had drawn, in that one small piece of 
' desecrated vegetables,' sufficient rations for one hundred 
men, three days for dinner, or in other words, three hundred 
meals; and when it came to putting the entire cake though 
small, into a ten-gallon kettle, with sufficient water to swell 
the ingredients into eatable shape, this was one of the physi- 



146 CAMP-FIRE CHATS OF THE CIVIL WAR. 

cal impossibilities ; so that at the time the explosion occurred, 
the vegetables had again risen to the top of the kettle, and 
consequently were scattered in the air, most of them, how- 
ever, falling back into the kettle, and like a slumbering vol- 
cano, were soon ready for another explosion. 

" But the cook rallied his courage, made for the kettle, 
and in his strength of madness, kicked the thing several 
feet from the fire, with the angry expression: 

' Darn that Yankee stuff, anyhow ; drat my gizzard if 
you'll get me to cook any more of it. I've cooked lots o' 
vegetables in my time, but I'll be dad burned if I ever saw 
anything that would swell twic't and then bust,' which ended 
the scene. 

" We did not eat any from that cooking, but when the 
boys became accustomed to ' dessicated vegetables ' we often 
had a fine pan of soup from a small piece of the preparation, 
which, no doubt, helped to keep away scurvy." 



CAMP-FIRE XL 

SLTLERS QUARTERMASTERS MULES HOW RICH A SOL- 
DIER MUST BE TO BUY ANYTHING FROM A SUTLER 

THE PROFITS IN THE GOVERNMENT APPOINTMENT OF 

QUARTERMASTER ON A REGULAR SALARY EUI OG Y 

ON THE SUTLER AND THE ARMY MULE. 

tN this commercial age handsome returns are often real- 
ized from occupations where there has been very moder- 
^ ate investment, and apparently very little business trans- 
acted. There are also other instances in which a great 
amount of business is done on a regular salary, without any 
investment; but still these operatives become suddenly pros- 
perous. And this latter condition of things has existed in 
other periods than the present. Mail routes have not been 
the only source of gain in the history of the United States 
patronage. Even the patriotism of twenty years ago was 
not unmixed w ith that enemy of human happiness — avarice. 
The gallantry of the patriotic quartermasters who so bravely 
volunteered to live for their country and undergo all the priva 
tions necessitated by a full supply train, will ever be treasured 
in memory. There were also other patriots who, in the 
hour of the country's need, kindly consented to take govern- 
ment contracts for furnishing coffee and other articles of food. 
But alas! some accident must have occurred, especially to the 
coffee. While that was being ground, before the govern- 
ment took it ill charge, it Is pr(jbable that the section of floor 
in the room just above the hopper suddenly gave way and let 
down into the grinder a quantity of peas and chicory, which 

H7 



148 CAMP-FIRE CHATS OF THE CIVIL WAR. 

incidentally had been stored above it. Owing to the great 
demand for ground coffee there could be no time lost in stop- 
ping the mills to take out the peas and chicory. No one 
was to blame. The millers could not stop to repair the loss 
from the accident; the proprietors, who held the contracts, 
were too busy with something else — buying cotton in the 
South, and smuggling it through, purchasing and stocking 
Western farms at a million dollars apiece, and establishing 
extensive seed houses in the East. Truly they were men of 
great minds, and could not attend to details. 

But it is the devotion of the quartermasters which is 
now to be lamented. Could the eloquent army mule get up 
from his grave and give forth his reminiscence, how many 
times would he say that he had been driven off, recaptured, 
and sold again to the government? Could each extra ration 
due the soldier speak, how far would it say that it missed its 
destination? However, the quartermasters were not respon- 
sible for the vagaries of the rations and of the mules; though 
in tliis connection it is a little difficult to see just why these 
officers were so prosperous after the war, when the majority 
of them were nearly penniless before; how a man with a 
family, in moderate circumstances, could accumulate a compe- 
tence on a salary of $124.00 per month,* paying war prices 
for everything. It was no moral wrong to be a quarter- 
master, but the source of profit in the business was never ac- 
counted for until the Society for the Preservation of Unpub- 
lished History learned the following from one of them. 

One evening after the adjournment of a camp-fire, the so- 
ciety was invited to become the guests of a qaurtermaster. 
Of course they accepted such a pleasure. From the camp- 
fire they were conveyed in an easy carriage to a fine portion 

♦Besides a liberal allowance of rations, etc. For pay-roll, uniforms, discipline, 
etc., and much interestinaf information concerning- armies, see Revised Re adulations of 
the United States Army, to be found in any well-appointed public library. 



CAMP-FIRE CHATS OP THE CIVIL WAR. I49 

r 

' of a thriving city. They were driven up to a large brown- 
stone front on the south side of the street, surrounded by a 
neat and spacious lawn, with an aristocratic air about the 
whole home. As the society advanced up the fashionable 
stone walk, and the bright moonlight outlined the mansion 
and its surroundings, and they beheld the sphinx-like figures 
crouching on the banister, in the dim gas-light from the hall, 
they almost wished they had been quartermasters. 

In the morning after a rich breakfast, which made them 
feel that it was a decided advantage to accept invitations like 
the one of the previous evening,.^ — they were shown about 
the premises. The house was furnished richly within, well- 
suiting its outward beauty ; and when the society congratu- 
lated the quartermaster on his comfortable abode, he said : 

" Come into my cellar," which was accordingly done, be- 
cause the historians suspected something. 

" Here," said the quartermaster, " is some that is twenty 
years old — fine old Bourbon. Smack your lips on that." 

With true historical skill, after a comparison of dates 
which was not uttered, the S. P. U. H. simply, but forcibly re- 
plied : 

" Well, we are total abstinence; but whenever we do take 
anything, it is Invariably twenty -year-old Bourbon." 

When the party were again in the open air, the society 
inquired of the quartermaster what he did to pass away his 
declining days. 

"Oh!" he laughed, "I 'tend to the farm, and look after 
my place here, and loan a little money once in awhile." 

If the S. P. U. H. had been a little better acquainted, and 
could have given security, they would probably have asked 
the good quartermaster to loan them a little " for a few 
days," as they were no richer than other historians and penny- 
a-liners; but as it was, they concluded to keep up their accus- 
tomed dignity, and only interrogated: 



150 CAMP-FIRE CHATS OF THE CIVIL WAR. 

"How did you get your start, Mr. Quartermaster?" as 
they felt a sudden desire to have a simihar experience. 

"Oh! " said he, " I am getting old now (forty-eight years) 
and I have been a good while at it — every old man ought to 
be rich in this country; and then I have a very economical 
wife." 

"Ah, yes!" said the S. P. U. H., glad to note the solution 
of quartermasters' post-bellum prosperity ; and with the re- 
flection that nearly all of the economical women in the coun- 
try must have married quartermasters or government con- 
tractors, the society took its leave. 

Curiously enough, the subject of quartermasters was 
brought up that evening at the camp-fire, and also that other 
similar object of sympathy, the sutler, who was the only 
man of a regiment permitted to buy goods from the outside 
world, and retail them to the soldiers at his own price. He 
was guaranteed the miscellaneous and exclusive patronage of 
from six hundred to a thousand soldiers, being the poor store- 
keeper of the regiment, and deserves much pity and memorial. 

In connection with the subject, Mr. A. Lammey, of Com- 
pany C, 2d Chicago Board of Trade Regiment, said: 

" I was on detached service for a time — in the secret mili- 
tary police force, or detective service, which was a part of 
the provost marshal's department. Our work was confined 
to cities, and we were for sometime in the city of Nashville^ 
We generally knew what was going on ' behind the scenes,' 
and often had considerable sport seeking out offenders, arrest- 
ing them, and putting them into prison. At one time we 
caught the post quartermaster, Capt. Charles Irwin. i do 
not remember who was the special plaintiff, but I know that 
Irwin was sued by the government for $2,000,000. His trial 
did not come off for two or three years, and I think it was 
compromised, as I never heard or read anything of it after- 
ward, though I watched for it. 



CAMP-FIRE CHATS OF THE CIVIL WAR. 151 

" But that was not what I was going to say. We had 
communication with the quartermaster's department, and be- 
ing a branch of the provost guard, we sometimes did special 
duty, adjusted adverse claims, and settled disputes by arrest- 
ing suspicious parties, and bringing them to justice. So I came 
to know of a case where a sutler was punished for the exorbi- 
tant prices he charged. 

" This was at the battle of Stone River. Lager beer had 
been pretty scarce for sometime, and the sutler had not been 
able to furnish it. Finally he succeeded in getting twenty 
kegs, and began to retail it out to the boys at ten cents a 
glass. The boys were all thirsty for the beverage, and the 
result was that the sutler had to have two or three assistants. 
Half the beer was soon gone, and it was evident that the re- 
mainder would not last long. 

" To save the beer and still make a good profit, the sutler 
put up the price to twenty cents a glass. But this did not 
seem to check the demand, and the beer flowed as fast as 
ever. Then the sutler concluded to make the price be felt, as 
he knew the difiiculty of getting any more beer at any price, 
so he raised the price to thirty cents per glass. Some of the 
boys now stopped drinking, and the others remonstrated at the 
price, but still kept buying. There were now only six kegs 
left, and this being deemed insufficient for the demand, the 
sutler raised the price this time to forty cents per glass. But 
it seemed that the boys were determined to drink up all that 
beer, though the majority had given up the luxury. Then 
the price was again raised. It took Jifty cents to purchase a 
glass of that beer! Then came ihejinale. 

" The boys at once held an indignation meeting, and de- 
manded the sutler to lower the price of his goods. This the 
merchant man refused to do, saying that he would get fifty cents 
per glass for what beer he had left, or he would drink it all 
himself. 



52 



CAMP-FIRE CHATS OF THE CIVIL WAR. 



" 'All light,' said one of the boys, ' if you don't come to 
reasonable terms, you will soon wish you had. We will give 
you twenty-five cents a glass for what beer you have left.' 

" ' Not much ! ' replied the sutler — ' I'll have fifty cents a 
glass for that beer, or I'll not sell you a drop.' 

" This settled it. Night soon came on. The boys were 
already decided as to their course of action. When all was 
quiet around the camp, one of them took the end of a long 
rope which the rest had provided for him, and crawling 
quietly down toward the sutler's tent, fixed it to the end of 
the wagon tongue. The other boys then began to pull 
quietly, but surely, and soon the wagon began to move mys- 
teriously up a high hill near by. The soldier who fastened 
the rope to the wagon, then crept into it, took out the rear 
end-gate, and as the wagon moved up the hill, he threw 
out a keg of beer here, and a box of provisions, candies or 
tobacco there, and a barrel of crackers a little further on, 
until the entire contents, about $1,500 worth of goods in 
all, were scattered along the hillside When the wagon 
reached the crest of the hill, it was empty. The soldiers 
then started it down the other side, and it did not stop for 
half a mile. 

" It did not require a great deal of time for the goods to 
disappear, and after a general jollification and distribution of 
the sutler's effects, the soldiers turned in to their tents, but 
not before they had taken a liberal amount to the colonel's 
tent, including half a barrel of fine butter crackers. 

" In the morning the unfortunate sutler made a wonder- 
fully close search for his goods, but of course found nothing. 
He at once appealed to the colonel, and demanded the arrest 
of the whole regiment. But before he finished speaking, he 
noticed the crackers in the colonel's tent. 

" ' Yes,' he said, ' and here you have half a barrel of my 
crackers,' and the sutler undertook to take possession of them. 



CAMP-FIRE CHATS OF THE CIVIL WAR. 1 53 

" ' Drop that barrel this very second,' interfered the colo- 
nel, 'or I'll put a bullet right through your stingy carcass!' 
and he drew his revolver to show that he meant business. 

" The sutler dropped the crackers, but began : 

" ' Well, I'll have my own property, or have you all ar- 
rested.' 

" ' That is not your property,' returned the colonel. 
' Those crackers were a present to me, and I mean to keep 
them. Hands ofF! ' 

" ' No they ain'tj' the sutler replied, — ' the cussed thieves 
stc.^e 'em from me last night.' 

" ' That makes no difference to me — these crackers were 
given to me with the compliments of my regiment, aivl I 
mean to keep them. I don't care where they came from.' 

" ' You're all a set of d — d robbers,' said the sutler — ' take 
a poor man's property away from him, and then shoot him if 
he tries to get it back.' 

*' ' Silence! ' roared the colonel, ' or I'll fill you full of cold 
lead, you avaricious hound ! Out with you, and never show 
your stingy face again at headquarters! Charge ten prices for 
your goods, cheat all you can, and squeeze every cent from 
the soldiers, and then complain if they retaliate! Consider 
your commission withdrawn, and never show yourself here 
again ! ' 

" It is needless to say that the sutler did not set up another 
stock with that regiment, and he was not the first sutler who 
v/as served in a similar way by oppressed soldiers." 

There were three cheers for the Stone River colonel after 
this story, and then Capt. John O. Pullen delivered the fol- 
lowing grandiloquent eulogium on the sutler and the army 
mule: 

" Comrades, you have heard in every Fourth-of-July ora- 
tion of the ' Volunteer Soldiery,' the ' Loyal Women,' 'Vet- 
erans of the Grand Army,' of the 'Rank and File,' and obitu- 



154 CAMP-FIRE CHATS OF THE CIVIL WAR. 

aries to the ' Unknown' who were left, bearing their insignia 
of rank across the river — only their vaUant deeds their 
vouchers. 

" But, comrades, it is for me to tell to-night of the truly 
loyal sutler and the patriotism of the army mule; and I am 
glad that the Society for the Preservation of Unpublished 
Histor}^ is here to chronicle my remarks. The sutler, unlike 
Artemus Ward, who was ' willing to sacrifice all his wife's 
relations for his country ' — took his own life in his — 
pocket, and went forth to dare or die, that he might live. 

" It is fitting, my comrades, that the sutler should be 
placed first in this sentiment, as his loyalty — heretofore unap- 
preciated by those learned in the art of war — is demonstrated 
by his valorous chivalry in always being at the front in the 
grand charge — for canned fruit and ' Scheidam Schnapps.' 

" Wlio so loyal as our sutler, when he met us at the pay- 
master's table, and there by written testimonials convinced us of 
his willingness to take charge of all the pay Uncle Samuel 
had so liberally donated to us, and send the same home to his 
little ones! Who so loyal, as when our sutler, at the sound 
of the retreat, would appropriate all the contrabands, and 
press into service all stragglers, for the removal of his stores 
to a place of safety — thereby demonstrating that it was for 
Uncle Sam's volunteer soldiery that his loyal heart was beat- 
ing? Who so loyal as the sutler, when the Southern Con- 
federacy acknowledged the collapse, and by his counsel, and 
on the stump, and through the public press he denounced the 
squandering of the nation's wealth, either as bount}'' or pen- 
sions upon the ' hirelings ' who had taken their lives in their 
hands, 'and gone forth to battle, that a nation might live?' 

" Truly, the loyalty of the sutler of the volunteer army 
shines equal to the electric light of the present times, and 
while the brillianc}^ of the loyalty of the sutler is so tran- 
scendent, that pure sparkle in the eye of our army mule, with 



CAMP-FIRE CHATS OP THE CIVIL WAR. I55 

its liquid fire of loving patriotism, surmounts the illuminating 
deeds of ' Sherman's Bummers.' 

" Our army mule's patriotism far exceeded that of the 
numan race; an animal with no ancestors to vindicate, or 
posterity to protect; an individuality unknown in civilized war- 
fare until the 'late unpleasantness'! The first we learn of 
this purely patriotic beast is in divine history, when the gre;i!- 
^reat-great-grand-dam of his step-brother's sire is record cci 
as saving the life of one of the great leaders of the warfare 
of that (lay, by holding a conversation with an authorized 
agent from the Great Commander' of the Universe, in a walled 
lane, whereby she saved her master from the sword by hei 
perceptive faculty and vocal ability. 

" Our patriotic mule's only quasi paternity known tG 
fame is that of the great-great-grand-sire of his step-sister, 
when, as also recorded in divine history, an eminent warrior 
took the musical portion of his anatomy, and slew a thousand 
Philistines. 

" It is quite probable that these two demonstrations of the 
vocal ability of these senior kindred ancestors so discouraged 
this race by non-appreciation, that they were lost to history 
until there came the call for volunteer soldiery. Then the 
commotion counnenced, and the cry went forth for trans, 
portation. 

"Down in the ' blue grass' region, from that soil upor, 
which the great commander-in-chief of all the American 
armies first saw the light of life, came forth also Balaam's 
faithful servant of yore, — this patriotic volunteer, ready to 
bear the greatest burdens and support a tottering nation in its 
trying ordeal for life. 

" When this demonstrative patriot came forth, bestrided 
by the ' great mogul ' of the army, that talented linguist, — he 
to whom all of the army were subservient, the Jehu, — as he 
threw his leg over the 'oflF cuss,' and pulled the check line; do 



156 CAMP-FIRE CHATS OF THE CIVIL WAR. 

you remember, comrades, how those little fellows in the lead 
who had known no service, twinkled their eyes' and wriggled 
their ears in anticipation of becoming a prominent force in 
maintaining the dignity of this great republic; and then when 
the welcome sound was vibrated from hill top to hill top, 
and came rushing through the valleys, ' I'se coming! ! I'se 
coming I ! !' and the cracker line was opened? And do you 
likewise remember, as in the exuberance of joy you caressed 
this patriot, how he, with his pathetic acknowledgement, 
winked and blinked his eye and wagged his ear? I tell you, 
comrades, such history must and will be preserved. 

"But the order of * About — face!' came, — then the trouble 
commenced. Our inule was par excellence^ the true ideal of 
independence, of pluck, of endurance, and of power; always 
ready to advance with the usual speed as dictated by his 
judgment, but always adverse to a retreat, as requiring too 
much haste and accompanying excitement, which caused a 
contraction of the nerves along the spinal column, and made a 
rear view a decidedly precarious position to maintain. It was 
clearly demonstrated that his majesty, the army mule, instead 
of the cowardly eagle, should have been selected as our 
national bird of freedom. 

" While with the critical judge he would hardly compare 
with the king of the forest, or ' Mary's little lamb,' neverthe- 
less he is an animal of imposing presence and commanding 
great respect from the rear. 

"When at the close of the war at the grand review in 
Washington, who demonstrated his patriotism so loudly as the 
veteran army mule? — standing at the street corners, and nod- 
ding his head from left to right, calling your attention to the 
scars of war from collar-gall to breeching-blister, and articu 
lating in his sadly musical voice: 

" ' Good-bye, my lover, good-bye.' " 



CAMP-FIRE XII. 

BUSHWHACKING WHAT CIRCUMSTANCES DO WITH CASES 

A JEST ON GEN. A. J. SMITH — FORAGING. 

;ERHAPS the most inexcusable practice in all the Civil 
War was that of "bushwhacking." The " bushwhacker" 
was not a soldier, but a cowardly, contemptible battle- 
man who never carried on hostilities unless he was unopposed. 
His name portrays his true character. He generally prided 
himself on his skill in playing his roJe. Around the flanks 
of armies, on the march and in the camp, could be seen his 
suspicious figure peddling sundry goods to the soldiers during 
the day, — much to the disgust of the sutler,— and at night he 
would lie in ambush to kill some unguarded traveler, simply 
for the plunder he could obtain. 

The " bushwhacker " was somewhat similar to the guer- 
illa, except that he sometimes had a smooth side to his char- 
acter, which would permit him to walk among the soldiers 
in daylight, and acquire such information as would aid his 
despicable designs at night. Again, he never grew bold, like 
the guerilla, but generally perambulated alone in thickets and 
obscure places, invariably keeping near a safe retreat. How- 
ever, there is one consolation in the recollection of him, even 
though it was the result of selfishness; iie was broad-minded 
in his theft, stealing from all armies alike, yet like the moun- 
taineers of old, he " never took anything which he could not 
carry off." 

But his marksmanship was good. Many a poor sentinel 
w'ho went forth to die in the front ranks of a great battle in 



158 CAMP-FIRE CHATS OF THE CIVIL WAR. 

the war, found an unprovoked and untimely death at the 
instance of a " bushwhacker's " musket, with nothing but the 
quiet stars to witness the atrocity- 
It is beneath the dignity of the Society for the Preserva- 
tion of Unpublished History to place in its honored annals 
any panegyric on the "bushwhacker"; but he was a part of 
the war, just as vermin were a part of prison pens, and for 
once the S. P. U. H. felt like calling itself the "Society for 
the Persecution of Unhung Heroes." However, an incident 
by Mr. S. W. Rodgers of the 113th Ohio Volunteer Infantry 
will show how the " bushwhacker " sometimes received his 
desert : 

" While a portion of the army was lying at Franklin, 
Tenn., in the spring of 1863, a number of Johnnies were 
encamped at Spring Hill, only six miles distant. There had 
been considerable skirmishing between the two armies, and 
bushwhacking on all sides; and a certain picket post in Grass 
Creek valley, just where the skirmish I'ne crossed the stream, 
was being molested continually. 

" Accordingly one night, a brave, stout young fellow was 
posted there, who was thought equal to any emergency. He 
kept quiet for a time, but finally perfected a scheme in his 
mind to entrap the wary bushwhacker who disturbed the 
place. He made the outline of a man with some sticks, then 
threw an old coat over the frame, and with a long stick as a 
substitute for a gun at support, the bogus sentinel was ready 
to receive the bushwhacker's bullet. 

" There were two or three other boys besides the sentinel 
waiting to assist in capturing the bushwhacker, if their aid 
should be needed. All hands were not much more than 
well hidden before ' Whang!' went the bushwhacker's bullet 
through the supposed sentinel at his post. At the crack of 
the gun, the young fellow who had been ordered to the post 
started on a lively race through the brush, and before he had 



CAMP-FIRE CHATS OF THE CIVIL WAR. 1 59 

gone many yards he succeeded in overtaking the busn- 
whacker, and laid his strong arm on him. 

" ' Come on, boys,' called the sentinel to his comrades 
* I've caught the rascal ! ' 

" The bushwhacker had not a word to say. He was 
taken to a spot where the moonlight could shine full in his 
face, and was found to be a person who lived near the camp, 
and had peddled pies, milk, bread and cakes to the soldiers 
that very day. He had preached sometimes in the neighbor- 
hood, and pretended to cover his dark career with the meek 
and lowly garb of Christianity. But alas! 

" ' Truth, crush'd to earth, shall rise again : 

The eternal years of God are hers ; 
But Error, wounded, writhes with pain. 

And dies among his worshipers.' 

" The result was that summary punishment was meter! 
out to this despicable man at the hands of the outraged 
soldiers." 

There was another class of preachers with the army, how- 
ever, who were somewhat more sincere in their duties, as the 
following will show: 

" There were but few comrades in Kilpatrick's cavalry 
who did not know Chaplain Cartwright, of the 92d Illinois, 
for he was one of those men who are always doing some- 
thing to help the condition of the boys. I remember when 
he first joined the regiment at Franklin, Tenn. He seemed 
to be boiling over to assist the boys, and many a surviving 
comrade can testify to the untiring efforts of Father Cart- 
wright in alleviating their sufferings while lying in a hospital 
tent, or upon the march. 

" The first march we took after he joined us was from 
Franklin, Tenn., to Triune. It was in the spring of the year. 
The sun shone brightly, and the boys were loaded down with 
wi.lrer clothing, which they soon threw by the roadside, some 



l6o CAMP-FIRE CHATS OF THE CIVIL WAR. 

casting off everything except their ponchos. The good old 
chaplain came riding along, and seeing so many blankets, 
blouses, shirts, etc., jumped off his horse and began to pack 
the animal with these various articles of clothing, saying to 
himself, ' My boys will be glad to get these articles when 
they go into camp to-night. If I only knew to whom tney 
belonged, I would take them to their tents.' 

" The aged man trudged along all day, leading his horse, 
and when he came into camp that night, his old horse looked 
like a traveling pawnshop. It is needless to say that the 
faithful chaplain had no trouble whatever in finding owners 
for every article of value, — in fact, he could have disposed of 
an army wagon load. A smile lit up his countenance while 
the boys were unloading the horse, and he remarked that he 
wished he had a cargo to give them, for he found the reward 
for his labor in the gratitude that was visible on every face." 

A soldier in the (late) command of Gen. A. J. Smith, 
who well understood the General's character, then told this; 

"In December, 1862, while Sherman's army was moving 
down the Mississippi River on transports to attack the Con- 
federate stronghold at Vicksburg, the supply of fuel became 
somewhat limited, and we were obliged to obtain that neces- 
sary article wherever opportunity offered, sometimes at a 
deserted wood-yard, at other times from the dry rail fences of 
tile rich plantations which were too tempting for the pilots to 
pass by. 

" These occasions were hailed with joy by. the men, as 
they were enabled to leave the close quarters on board for a 
ramble upon terra Jirma; and although they were required 
to assist in ' toting' the wood or rails to the steamer, few, if 
any, held back, but all were anxious to get what little exer- 
cise such occasions afforded. 

" On one of these halts, the steamboat which was partly 
occupied as the headquarters of Gen. A. J. Smith, whose many 



CAMP-FIRE CHATS OF THE CIVIL WAR. l6l 

eccentricities were widely known througliout the division, 
effected a landing immediately in front of a beautiful planta- 
tion, upon the right bank of the river. The plantation house, 
one of those grand old Southern homes, was situated about 
forty rods back from the river, with a beautiful lawn gently 
sloping down to the bank, studded with semi-tropical trees 
and foliage plants, while at one side in the rear of the house 
were the outbuildings, around which were plainly seen a 
large number of chickens and larger poultry, which were 
the only animate objects to be seen upon the premises. 

*' I presume that every old soldier will bear me witness 
that there is nothing in their experience which so sharpens a 
man's appetite for chicken as a few days' steady diet of hard 
tack and bacon, and the men upon the General's boat were 
no exception to the rule; hence as they filed off the boat after 
rails, occasionally a man was seen to visit the neighborhood 
of the above-mentioned out-buildings, and when he returned 
with several rails upon his shoulder, a large protuberance 
was noticeable under the breast of his overcoat. 

" While standing upon the upper deck of the boat. Gen- 
eral Smith had noticed a commotion among the chickens, and 
immediately his ire was aroused to a towering height. He 
descended to the boiler deck with all promptness and gusto, 
and with drawn sword in his hand, re.quired the men as thev 
came on board to unbutton their overcoats and surrender their 
coveted plunder. In a very few minutes there were lying at 
the General's feet some dozens of chickens, while his eye 
showed that he keenly enjoyed the disappointment of the men 
who reluctantly relinquished their prizes at his stern command. 

' Presently a man came on board, bringing an unusually 
large load of rails, whose coat had the appearance of the 
others who had come to grief. 

"*What have you under your coat?' gruffly demanded 
the General. 
II 



l63 CAMP-FIRE CHATS OF THE CIVIL WAR. 

" ' Well, General, if it makes no difference to you, I had 
rather not tell.' 

" * Uitbutton your coat^ sir ! ' 

" * I had rather not, General.' 

" Raising his sword in a threatening attitude, the General 
yelled at the top of his voice: 

"'Unbutton your coat! d n you, or I'll open it 

for you ! ' 

" The soldier now saw that the General meant business, 
and in all meekness replied: 

" « Well, General, if I must I musty and in a hesitating 
manner he slowly unbuttoned his coat, when, to the General's 
surprise and great disgust, there dropped down a huge billet 
of stove wood. 

" * Sold, by G df ' said the General, and he turned on 

his heel, walked up into his cabin, and left the boys to enjoy 
their chickens as best they could." 

[It was with some hesitation and considerable disturbance 
of the finer feelings of the Society for the Preservation of 
Unpublished History, that they consented to place any pro- 
fanity upon their sacred scroll ; but it was argued that this 
dialect was so very characteristic of some soldiers and officers 
that their quoted language would be incomplete without it. 
When, however, in the course of human events it becomes 
necessary for the society in its diction to contend with these 
useless expressions, their historic minds revert to a lecture 
once given by a prominent but profane general in the war, 
who was indeed superabundant in his profanity. The gen- 
eral was a very interesting speaker, and proceeded to the 
delight of the audience until near the close. He related many 
humorous incidents in the earlier part of his discourse, and 
finally came to the pathetic side of army life. He told of the 
sufferings in the prison pens, and of the touching experiences 
there. Then he came to " homesickness," and remembered 



CAMP-FIRE CHATS OF THE CIVIL WAR. 163 

an incident oi' a young soldier who had been in camp for 
some time along the malarial Chickahominy, and longed to 
return home. The soldier had fully realized the hardships of 
war, and could well repeat Longfellow's sweet " Psalm of 
Life." The general here thought he would give the words, 
and believing that he had the " Psalm of Life " so well com- 
ir.itted to memory, he allowed his mind to wander on in the 
course of his lecture, while he trusted his vocal organs, un- 
thoughtfuUy, to pronounce it. 

" • Tell me not, in mournful numbers, 
Life is but a d d dream,' 

said the vocal organs, much to the astonishment of the gen- 
eral's ears and all others who heard the mistaken utterance. 
Well understanding the general's character, the audience 
burst into applause. When the merriment subsided, the gen- 
eral apologized for his error, and though he had previous!}' 
prided himself on the forcible and fearless language of his 
everyday life, he then and there declared that that was the 
last time he would ever use profane language.] 

The following was then told before the camp-fire, by one 
of the boys who took part in the experience: 

" On the night of Dec. 31, 1863, two members of our 
Company, — K, gzd Illinois, — passed the pickets at Hunts- 
ville, Ala., and started for the Matthews Plantation, to ascer- 
tain whether any forage was lying around loose. Upon 
entering the gate several shots were heard in the direction of 
ihe negro quarters, and we feared that bushwhackers were 
near, so we made a reconnoissance, and soon discovered that 
the darkeys had secured some of our metallic cartridges, and 
were celebrating New Year's eve by throwing them into a 
bonfire. 

"This was a great relief to us, but while we were talking 
to the darkeys a new danger threatened. The old gate again 



164 CAMP-FIRE CHATS OF THE CIVIL WAR. 

swung upon its hinges, and eight mounted men came upon 
us. Of course we thought they were Johnnies, and they 
passed the same compUment upon us. It was quite dark, so 
we could not tell from the uniforms whom we were address- 
ing. They asked us: 

" ' Who are you ? ' 

" ' Yanks,' we said. 

" * Where do you belong? ' 

" ' To the 92d Illinois Infantry; ' then it was our turn, and 
we asked: 

" 'Who are youP — cavalry from the ist Ohio?' 

" ' Mathematically correct,' they &aid ; ' how did you know 
it?' 

"* Oh!' we replied, *your regiment went through Hunts- 
ville to-day.' 

" Then they got off and felt us from head to foot to make 
sure that we had told them the truth. When they were 
convinced they asked us again: 

"' Where are you bound for?' 

*' ' Foragin',' we replied. 

"'All right; let's proceed to business, boys,' they said; 
and in less time than it takes to tell it, we were making 
selections from a stock of well-cured hams which were stored 
in the smoke-house. From there we proceeded to the house, 
upon entering which the Ohio boys began to pillage. I pro- 
tested; and, being the only person in the crowd who wore a 
blue overcoat, the folks thought I was an officer, and appealed 
to me: 

" ' Do you allow your men to commit depredations of this 
kind?' 

"' No,' I returned, ' 1 would not if I had any control over 
^hem.' 

"'Are you an officer?' 

" 'No,' I answered. 



CAMP-FIRE CHATS OF THE CIVIL WAR. 165 

" ' Well, will you regard a protection ? ' 

" ' It depends upon who gives the protection,' I said. 

« ' Colonel Alexander,' they replied. 

" By this time the boys were up-stairs, ransacking the 
house, and I told the folks that I would go up and use my 
influence to have them stop; and here is how I succeeded: 

" ' Boys,' I said, ' this must be stopped; these folks have 
a protection from Colonel Alexander, commanding the post 
at Huntsville.' 

" ' Who in h — 1 is he?'' asked one of the Ohio boys. 

" ' Say, 92d,' said another, ' don't you want some sugar: ' 

" ' No, boys,' I replied, ' I don't want anything when we 
get it this way.' 

"'Ha! ha! ha!' they laughed, ' you're no forager,' and 
just then one of them secured a pair of linen pantaloons, tied 
up the ends of the legs, told the boys to scoop in some sugar, 
and when it was well filled, he threw it across my shoulders 
with the remark: 

" ' Here, try some of our best brand of Southern sugar.' 

" I confess that 1 did hump my shoulders a little to keep 
it from sliding off, and when I thought of taking to camp 
enough sugar for the whole company, my moral nature gave 
clear away, and I allowed the pantaloons full of sugar to 
remain around my neck. 

" We began to depart, one by one. We filed down the 
stairs, while the family were at the bottom, anxiously await- 
ing the return of the supposed oflScer. They were in some 
distress, and as we passed out with our pillage, they began 
to cry. It was really pitiful, but nevertheless ludicrous, as 
they began to lament: 

" ' Oh ! there goes poor uncle's boots ! ' 

" ' Yes, an' there goes poor uncle's coat,' said another. 

" * An' there goes poor uncle's hat. Oh I oh ! ' 

'■' ' An' there goes poor uncle's pants,' they said, as I passed 



1 66 CAMP-FIRE CHATS OF THE CIVIL WAR. 

out. ' He's been dead five years, an' ef his sperit knowed what 
was goin' on, it 'd make him turn over in his grave. Oh ! oh P 

" It is needless to say that I did not stop to report my 
ucces? in persuading the boys to leave the premises. 

"We now had meat, flour, sugar and coffee; and there 
were about 150 hives of bees in the yard, so we thought we 
would take along a little honey. 

"The 1st Ohio boys were veterans at this business, and 
while I was using my thumb and finger trying to get the 
honey without being stung, they had filled their vessels. One 
of them grabbed my hand and said: 

"' See here, 92d, I'll show you how to take honey f and 
with that he smeared my hands all over with the sticky stuff, 
and continued: 

" ' Now go in for it.' 

" My comrade and I had two vessels, — an eight-gallon jar 
and a long butter bowl. We very soon filled these, and 
were then ready to bid farewell to the Matthews Plantation. 
I took the jar of honey and ' poor uncle's pants ' full of sugar, 
and my comrade had the butter bowl full of honey, and some 
other things. 

" We then said ' Good-bye' to our Ohio companions, and 
started for Huntsville. The night was very dark. A driz- 
zling rain set in, and in passing through the woods we lost 
our way. I got off my horse and felt around for the road, 
but could not find any. I told my comrade to follow me, 
and I believed I could come out of the woods all right. 
We had not gone far, however, before my comrade began to 
indulge in profanity to an alarming extent. 

" * What's the matter? ' I asked. 

"'Matter! the pommel of my saddle has punched a hole 
in the bottom of this bowl, and this honey has run all over 
me! Why, blast my buttons! if the stuff hasn't glued me to 
my saddle!' 



268 CAMP-FIRE CHATS OF THE ClVll. WAR. 

** t Ha! ha! ha! ' I laughed. 

"' What shall I do? ' he asked angrily 

" ' Why,' I told him, ' if you are glued to your saddle, the 
only thing you can do is to sit still until I can get you out.' 

"* Curse this foragin' business, anyhow; curse war; curse 
everything; it all goes wrong,' he said. 

" ' Throw the stuff away,' I suggested ; and with many 
regrets he flung it against a tree, but this left us eight gal- 
lons still. 

" We passed on through the woods, and finally reached 
the picket, who asked us who we were. We told him where 
we belonged, and that we had been out that day scouting and 
picking up salt (which was true); that we had got lost from 
our command. He let us pass, and we reached camp at 4 
o'clock A. M. We learned that the orders were to march at 
6 o'clock; but we treated the whole company to the honey 
and sugar, and I shall never forget how the boys cheered us 
on the success of our first lesson in foraging." 

" Son J. H." then contended that soldiers were " creatures 
of circumstance," in the following language: 

" I believe that we are in a very large degree creatures 
governed by circumstances. This was plainly demonstrated 
to my mind while I was in the army. I was a boy of but 
nineteen when I enlisted. My parents very much disliked to 
have me go, but finally gave their consent if I would go with 
Mr. S. 

" This Mr. S. had been my school teacher the year before* 
and I very readily agreed to that; so we went off together 
with sixteen of the neighborhood boys. 

" The object my parents had in wanting me to go with 
Mr. S. was two-fold: (i) he was a near neighbor, and (3) 
they thought his influence would help to keep their son J. in 
the path of right doing'. All was very well until we were 
on the march with General Fremont in Missouri. Provisions 



CAMP-FIRE CHATS OF THE CIVIL WAR. 169 

became very short, and then it was that this son J. (with 
others) thought about the wicked practice of foraging. For 
this purpose we visited a hen-house one evening, but alas! 
how circumstances were against us. We found the door 
barred, and two large Southern hounds tied on the inside. 
But, determined not to be outdone, we changed our plan of 
attack. We concluded for the time to be honest, and go in 
and ask for some of the chickens. We did so. The old mai\ 
was very kind and glad to give us two as a reward of merit 
for being honest and asking for them. 

« Now we went from that hen-house across the way to 
another where the circumstances were different, — no dogs on 
the inside, but plenty of fat chickens. We mounted a rail 
fence which joined the hen-house, and slipping the boards to 
one side, we put in our honest hand and it brought out eight 
nice ones. We then went back after the ninth, but an old 
hen that had been trained gave the alarm, and the circum- 
stances were such just then that we were obliged to make a 
hasty departure. 

" From these and other incidents which passed under my 
observation, I am inclined to believe that we were governed 
by our circumstances; at least, we rarely attempted to rob a 
hen-roost when it was guarded by bushwhackers and blood- 
hounds." 




CAMP-FIRE XIII. 

BATTLES UNSUNG BY THE MUSE OP^ HISTORY ORIGIN OF 

THE STARS AND STRIPES GENEALOGY OF GEORGE 

WASHINGTON. 

t AMP-FIRE Thirteen had for its subject the most 
pathetic part, perhaps, of the whole purpose of the 
S. P. U. H. — to place garlands of fame upon the 
brows of unflattered heroes. Accordingly, all who had par- 
ticipated in battles which had never been chronicled upon the 
papyrus of history were invited to relieve their minds of any 
unwritten conflicts which they might remember. 

Thereupon there was at once great confusion in the as- 
sembly. It almost seemed as though, instead of simply re- 
lating accounts of these heretofore unheard of battles, the 
veterans were attempting to act them out! But the disci- 
pline of the camp was most perfect; and to reduce the chaos 
to system it was only necessary for the commander, after he 
secured attention, to suggest that the veterans talk by 
companies and regiments — one company at a time. Imme- 
diately there was harmony, and the accustomed good feeling at 
once returned. 

But the relief was only temporary. It was like a flag of 
truce or a lull in a great battle in order to bring heavy re- 
serve forces forward for more regular and telling blows. 
When this reflection presented itself to the ambassadors 
from the throne of history, their stock of long-suflfering was 
at once exhausted. They suddenly recalled the close of 
the first camp-fire, when all the veterans present were talked 

170 



CAMP-FIRE CHATS OF THE CIVIL WAR. 171 

to sleep by one man. What would it be now with the ora- 
torical force so multiplied? Truly, Camp-fire Thirteen was 
an unlucky number. But the lamb submitted to the slaugh- 
ter. Lighting a fresh " Havana," which the commissary ot 
subsistence had thoughtfully provided in plenty, the histori- 
cal visitors arranged their dignity for the night, while the 
commander bade his followers begin their work. 

The first step was a motion. It was seconded, where- 
upon came the resolution : 

Whereas^ We, the veterans here in camp-fire assembled, 
desire to preserve for the benefit of posterity the memoirs of 
our most manifest feats in the " late unpleasantness;" and. 

Whereas^ There were many battles in said unpleasantness 
which have been heretofore unrecorded; therefore, 

Resolved^ That the Society for the Preservation of Un- 
published History be hereby petitioned to place the same in 
its annals. 

The same was thereby placed in the said annals, after the 
several records were related, and the aforesaid memoirs were 
duly contributed to the society's collection of curiosities. 

The first speaker tried his memory, and related an account 
of a mountain skirmish; but this was found in the official 
reports published by the Government. In like manner the 
discussions proceeded until the camp-fire embers were nearly 
all consumed, and the evening had grown late. Nevertheless, 
the representatives of the S. P. U. H. noted the minutes of 
the meeting literally, in accordance with the hereinbefore- 
mentioned resolution, until finally one veteran from a Kansas 
regiment remembered a battle which he was sure had not 
been recorded in history. 

*'On the Fourth of July, 1863," said he, " was, indeed, 
one of the grandest climaxes of the war. The haughty city 
of Vicksburg fell, and was allowed to come up out of the 
ground. The bloody battle of Gettysburg was fought, with 



172 " CAMP-FIRE CHATS OF THE CIVIL WAR. 

which two battles the public mind was so occupied that it 
could not notice the rost of the carnage. But there were 
other mighty battles fought at that time, one of which was 
in the midst of a large Western city. 

" However, the preliminary to this must be understood. 
Of course people all over the country were celebrating the 

day, and our city, in which I had been confined in L 's 

general hospital for six weeks, was no exception to the rule. 

" To entertain the wounded soldiers, and fill his own 
purse, an ingenious Frenchman obtained permission from the 
city authorities to give a balloon ascension at one of the large 
parks. It was expected to be a grand affair. There were to 
be other performances in a tent near by, and some rockets 
were to be sent up, with a further display of fireworks. 
All soldiers who had enough money bought their tickets at 
fifty cents apiece, and also those who could borrow money. 

" The morning came, and we all went up to the park. 
On arriving, we found a man there to take our tickets, but 
very meager preparations had been made to entertain us. 
The old balloon was torn, and there were holes in it in some 
places two feet in diameter. The rest of the programme 
was in a similar dilapidated state of rehearsal. Soldiers are 
not the people to be deceived or cheated in such a manner, 
so the boys determined to have the fireworks, at any rate, and 
they took the thing into their own hands. They tore up 
things generally around there, and when they left there was 
not a piece of that balloon large enough for a Comanche In- 
dian's pocket handkerchief. But they kept the rockets for 
future use. 

« We returned to the hospital to rest after our sport, much 
disappointed. But we had the rockets on hand and a few Ro- 
man candles which must be disposed of in some way. 

"Just across from the hospital was the Fifth Street mar- 
ket, which we could see from' our side of the building that 



CAMP-FIRE CHATS OF THE CIVIL WAR. 



73 



fronted on Broadway. The hospital was located in the 
worst part of the city, as far as the sentiments of the people 
were taken into account, for on every side our neighbors were 
the most bitter * copperheads.' Some of them had gone to 
the would-be balloon ascension in the afternoon, and they, 
too, had Roman candles and sky-rockets. The possession of 
these suggested to them a new method of tormenting the 
sick and wounded soldiers in the hospital, so they gathered at 
dark in the Fifth Street market, together with many other 
Confederate sympathizers from various parts of the city, and 
began to bombard us with the rockets. 

" Our windows were open, as the evening was very warm, 
and it seemed as if every rocket that was fired was aimed 
straight for a window of the hospital. One came square 
into my window, and would have set my bed on fire had I 
not been there to extinguish it; and I suppose that it was the 
same with the other rooms on that side of the building, for I 
could hear the boys above and below me cursing the ' cop- 
perheads' over in the market. Verily, the martial music on 
this occasion was a prolonged fantasia of profanity. When 
some of our boys would swear exceptionally loud the bogus 
Confederates would applaud. This only enraged our boys 
the more, and they at once declared war ! 

" One of the boys, by the name of Slaughterback, had the 
courage to call the boys together to materialize their desires, 
and the lines were formed immediately. 

" Our ire was aroused. We determined to vanquish the 
enemy as quickly as we had the balloon. All who were able 
to walk came to join our ranks. Some of the boys hobbled 
out on their crutches, some with one arm in a sling, and 
others with so high a fever that they could not have rallied from 
their prostration under any other circumstances. Each one 
took it upon himself to resent what he considered almost a 
personal insult. I was so sick that I could not have raised 



I^jTjJ. CAMP-FIRE CHATS OF THE CIVIL WAR. 

my head on ordinary occasions, but the stimulus to my 
weakened nerves was so great that I crawled out of my bed 
to the window just in time to see a battle which seemed to 
me more magnificent than the ' battle above the clouds.' It 
was the grandest display of fireworks that I ever witnessed. 
The Roman candles, with their irregular flashes, gave a glo- 
rious effect to a charge at night by men so weakened that in 
many cases they were scarcely able to stand, while the rock- 
ets well represented the ' sky-scraping shells.' 

" There were forty of the boys in all who were able to 
' rally round the flag.' They had no guns — they were armed 
with nothing except bravery and Roman candles. But tlie 
enemy were still worse of[—t/iey were armed with only Ro- 
man candles! Of course bricks or clubs and many other 
things were picked up by our boys as they advanced in regu- 
lar line of battle eager in their obedience to ' Forward — March !' 
from Commander Slaughterback. On they went, this for- 
midable phalanx of forty! The enemy were greatly superior 
in numbers; but, alas! they were men who had run from 
even the draft, much less then, a body of forty trained soldiers 
on crutches! A few hurled sticks and stones at the regulars 
as they advanced to the attack, but they kept a steady step, un- 
mindful of the contemptuous thrusts from these ' smaller fry.' 

" The main line of the enemy stood nobly, in the hope 
that they might rout the disabled Federals by a flank move- 
ment, for the latter were not reinforced. But the regular step 
of the Federals seemed so grand and undaunted that, it being 
their first battle, the overwhelming numbers of the enemy 
stood aghast; and when the Federals hurled their first volley 
of miscellaneous ammunition at them it was the ' most iin- 
kindest cut of all,' and they fled in dismay. 

" So closed, simultaneously with Gettysburg and Vicks- 
buro-. the only battle of the war which heretofore has not 
been described. 



CAMP-FIRE CHATS OF THE CIVIL WAR. l^^ 

INCIDENTS OF THE BATTLE. 

" The hero of the battle was Commander Slaughterback. 
With one arm in a sling, and his whole body weakenea from 
suffering, he kept well forward, and was the first to engage 
the enemy. As he came near the scene of the encounter one 
of the enemy bravely advanced to meet him, and with a con- 
temptuous look said : 

"'If your arm was not in that sling, sir, I'd thrash your 
cursed impudence out of you.' 

" Come on,' said Slaughterback, clapping his other arm 
behind his back; ' tie my other arm where it is, and then I'll 
kick you clear across the street at the first blow, you insignifi- 
cant coward!' Immediately after which, the fellow beat a 
precipitate retreat. 

"As I beheld in my admiration the grand charge of our 
boys along the whole line, being too weak to give the old 
army yell of triumph, I eagerly grabbed my crutch and 
hammered on the window-frame with all my might. A simi- 
lar noise came from several of the windows on the front and 
side of the building, while the forty who had gone forth and 
conquered the enemy responded with a prolonged cheer." 

"As the battle just related occurred on a very proud day 
for the old flag," said Dr. A.W. Gray, late Adjutantof the 51st 
Illinois Infantry, " let me give the result, in a few words, of con- 
siderable research for the true origin of our flag, and also some 
points in regard to Washington's ancestors, which may be ot 
interest : 

" How often has the American citizen thought whether 
the design of the United States flag signified anything of 
itself, or was simply an artistic accident? Some have one ex- 
planation, others another. The common one is, that the 
white bars typify purity; the red, the blood shed for our 
nationality; the stars, the individual States, ea^h shedding 



176 CAMP-FIRE CHATS OF THE CIVIL WAR. 

luster one upon another; the hlue, faith in the strength and 
'^^erpetuity of our government, and, like the azure blue of the 
sky, overshadowing the entire land. 

" But the true origin, and the one now generally accepted 
is, that it was a design offered by Gen. George Washington 
himself, and was simply a modification and enlarge- 
ment of his own coat-of-arms. It Is a well-known fact 
that Washington prided himself upon being a gentleman, 
as the term is understood in the old country; and that he had 
a coat-of-arms emblazoned upon the panels of his carriage, 
embroidered upon his book-mark, and engraved upon his 
watch seal. 

" The first Washington of whom we have any record was 
one John Washington, of Warton, Lancashire, England, who 
had a son, Laurence Washington, a London lawyer, who was 
a partisan and fiworite of King Henry VIII.; who moved to 
Solgrave, County of North England, and was Mayor of 
Northampton in 1533, and again in 1546; whose epitaph 
and coat-of-arms may still be seen engraved on a brass plate 
in the village church at Solgrave. 

" When King Henry VIII. seceded from Popish rule and 
established the Church of England, he confiscated the landed 
property of the Catholic Church throughout England, and 
divided it among his favorite followers. To Laurence Wash- 
ington he gave in 1538 the ' Manor of Solgrave,' formerly 
the property of the ' Monastery of Saint Andrews,' North- 
ampton. He also gave to him a coat-of-arms, which is thus 
recorded in the College of Heraldry in London: 

" 'Arms — Argent, two bars gules ; in chief, three mulletts 
of the second.' 

" ' Crest — A raven, with wings indorsed proper, issuing 
out of a ducal coronet.' 

"Which being explained means: A?'ms^ a shield; ar- 
^e;?^, silver; bars gziles^ red bars; in chiefs the top part of 



CAMP-FIRE CHATS OF THE CIVIL WAR. I^y 

the shield; mulletts^ rowels or spurs of knighthood, and are 
represented by several ^z^^-pointed stars; crest., the orna- 
ment that surmounts the shield ; coronet., a crown. 

" This coat-of-arms can yet be seen engraved on the 
stone over the gateway of the ' Solgrave manor house,' on the 
brass plate which marks the grave of Laurence Washington 
and his wife, and also on the plate over the grave of his 
grandson, Robert Washington, in the church at Brington. 

" So much for the coat-of-arms; and now a few words as 
to how the Washingtons happened to emigrate to America. 
As before stated, the family were pronounced loyalists, and 
when Cromwell was made Protector of England he beheaded 
Charles I., the King. He then persecuted the royal follow- 
ers, among whom was John Washington, a great-grandson 
of Laurence Washington; who, to save his life, fled to 
America in the year 1659 and settled in Virginia, where he 
died in 1675. John Washington left a son, Laurence, who 
died in 1697, leaving a son, Augustine, who was the father of 
George Washington, the first President of the United 
States — born in 1732 and died in 1799. 

When Congress discussed the question of adopting a 
national flag various designs were submitted for adoption. 
Washington drew a design of a flag which embodied the 
essential features of his family coat-of-arms, and had a Mrs. 
Ross, who kept an upholstery establishment in Philadelphia, 
make a flag in accordance therewith. The raven was 
changed to an eagle; the stars and bars were increased in 
number to one for each of the thirteen colonies, and the blue 
was inserted as the natural contrast of red. The crown or 
coronet, emblematic of royalty, was dropped. This flag was 
the one adopted by Congress, and is the same flag that waves 
in triumph at Yorktown. New Orleans^ the Citv of Mexico, 
and Appomattox, and that to-day still waves ' o'er the land 
of the free, and the home of the brave-' 
^1 



lyS CAMP-FIRE CHATS OF THE CIVIL WAR. 

"And here is the genealogy of the ' Father of his Coun 
try': (i) George Washington — the first President of the 
United States — son of (2) Augustine, son ot (3) Laurence, 
son of (4) John (knighted by King James I., and who came 
to America in 1659), son of (5) Laurence, son of (6) Rob- 
ert, son of (7) Laurence, who was twice Mayor of North- 
ampton, and to whom, in 1538, King Henry VIIL, granted 
the coat-of-arms, which, 340 years later, broadened out into the 
national flag of the United States of America. 

" In this connection another interesting fact is discovered : 
Ferdinand and Isabella of Spain aided Columbus to discover 
the continent of America; Katharine of Arragon was their 
daughter, and was also thp wife of Henry VIH. King of 
England, who gave the coat-of-arms to Laurence Washing- 
ton. So that Spain has the honor of not only discovering 
America, but also of having a son-in-law who gave her s 




CAMP-FIRE XIV. 

A ROLLICKING RECRUIT LOVE AND WAR THE S. P. U. H. 

SUTLER "WHEN GABRIEL BLOWS HIS TRUMPET /N 



il^OWEVER lamentable the fact may seem to the seif- 
styled philosophers, the , chroniclers of these chats have 
the cool reflection that this is about the best world they 
ever lived in. There is sufficient evil to test the energies of 
the good ; plenty of black clouds to make the sunshine all 
the more enjoyable, and almost enough smiles — those beau- 
tiful triumphs of good will toward men — to cheer the 
melancholy. 

And what a blissful thing it was that, notwithstanding 
the soldiers were all selected, this state of things existed in the 
army ! 

Humanity was pretty well represented there, abounding 
in over a million distinct specimens all told; but none was 
more praiseworthy than the " funny man" of each company. 
He was just as necessary as the chaplain; for, while the lat- 
ter buoyed up the sunken spirits of the soldiers by urging an 
unfaltering trust, the joker played upon the said spirits lai- 
terally by keeping up the ridiculous end of the programme. 

Nothing could have been received with more gratitude, in 
the dull hours of the winter camp, than the exhilarating effect 
of a real, wholesome, rib-shaking joke; and, though it was a 
little severe ;.n the boys sometimes, yet they usually recovered 
and felt well over it, as is illustrated by Mr. Wm. A. Craw- 
ley*s recollection of a comrade: 

179 



l8o CAMP-FIRE CHATS OF THE CIVIL WAR, 

"I was fortunate enough to belong to the loth Illinois 
Cavalry, and not having to trudge along on foot like the poor 
infantry men, we seemed never to grow weary, and were 
standing candidates for anything that promised entertainmer.: 
for man or beast, while our opportunities and desires for gen- 
eral deviltry and wholesale ' cussedness,' were without any 
discoverable limit. 

" There was one other fellow in our regiment — a pale, slim 
youth, who enlisted as a recruit in 1862. He had a. sad ex- 
pression of countenance, but, indeed, he was not sad — he was 
only meditating on some new invention for the production of 
mischief. 

" Crawford was his name, and as soon after entering the 
service as he became acquainted, he took another young re- 
cruit by the name of Boyd ' snipe hunting.' While B03 d 
held the sack in one hand and the lighted candle in the other, 
Crawford made a circuit to drive in the snipe. 

" Five minutes later Crawford, having put on a Confed- 
erate uniform, charged upon Boyd and demanded his sur- 
render. But alas! Crawford had mischosen his man. Boyd 
was a fellow who would have had no more sense than to 
tight a whole regiment, and was not the soldier to be intimi- 
dated by any one opponent. No sooner had Crawford made 
the demand than Boyd stepped up to him, pulled him from 
his horse, and began beating him with all his power. How- 
ever, Crawford finally succeeded, by a great amount of 
' moral suasion' and apology, in persuading Boyd to * let up,' 
which was done after the latter thought that he had pun- 
ished his inveigler sufficiently, and peace reigned once more, 
the two returning to camp together. 

" Crawford felt rather sore over the ill success of his first 

trick, and still sorer over the beating Boyd had given him. 

He tried to bribe Boyd into silence, but the fellow could not 

' be bought, and the truth soon leaked out. After the facts had 



CAMP-FIRE CHATS OF THE CIVIL WAR. lOI 

become known about the camp, the adventure furnished sport 
for the boys for a week or more, or until something else took its 
place, which was not long; for, notwithstanding the severe 
pounding he had received, which kept him in his tent for a 
few days, Crawford was not in the least discouraged ; and 
while he was recovering was just the most opportune time to 
concoct another trick. 

" But before he regained sufficient stiength to carry out 
his project he received a letter from his sweetheart, which 
moderated his immediate plan of action somewhat. I called 
on him while he was yet convalescent: 

" ' Bill,' he said, * I want you to go to the sutler's and get 
me a ream of fool's-cap paper.' 

*'* Why, what can you possibly do with so much paper?' 
I asked, knowing that his family were all dead, and that he 
seldom wrote a letter. With a soleixm and aggrieved expres- 
sion on his face he asked again, in reply : 

" ' Will you go if I tell you what I want with it?' 
" ' Yes,' I said, 'I'll go; but it's folly to have so much pa- 
per lying around. You don't expect to write for the press, 
do you?' 

." *No,' he said, holding his sides, and with great effort sup- 
pressing a convulsion of laughter, 'don't make me laugh; I 
am so lame yet.' 

"'Well, what is it?' 
" ' I'll tell you. I have been writing to a young lady in 
Peoria, Illinois — as fine a girl as ever admired a brave 
soldier — and she complains that my letters are too short. I 
mean to write her one that will satisfy her, if it takes all the 
paper the old sutler has.' 

"' Oh, well, now Crawford, don't be silly; don't put butter 
on bacon. Write her a reasonable letter, and let that settle it.' 
*"No, sir, I'll string it out; if you can't get me the paper, 
some one else will.' 



l82 CAMP-FIRE CHATS OF THE CIVIL WAR. 

" ' Oh, I'll get you the paper; but, boy alive! it will cost 
you ten dollars the way the sutler charges ! ' 

" * I don't care if it costs the next year's wages! I'll write 
the whole ream full to her,' he concluded. 

"'All right,' I repHed; ' I'll go for the paper.' 

"'Well, here's the money,' he said, giving me a ten- 
dollar bill; « and keep quiet about it — the boys have one too 
many jokes on me now.' 

"'All right,' I said, and started off for the sutler's place, 
feeling confident that Crawford hud given me sufficient 
money to buy the ream of paper and to spare, and that I 
would soon return. But, to my surprise, I had not over-esti- 
mated the sutler's price; on the other hand, I had come con- 
siderably below it. The miserly old sutler wanted fifteen 
dollars for that ream of fool's-cap! I succeeded in getting 
him to reduce the price to twelve dollars, but was unfortu- 
nate enough to drop some remark which informed him that 
it was absolutely necessary for me to have that paper. This 
settled the matter in the sutler's mind. He would not fall a 
cent from twelve dollars. So I paid him the price and took 
the paper, making up the additional two dollars from my 
own pocket, but said nothing about it to Crawford." 

[The narration of this transaction is probably the only 
proceeding in the history of the chats that was attended bv 
misfortune; and the error was, indeed, practical in its ap[)l - 
cation, for, very unkindly, it directly affected the S. P. U. H. 
in their paper supply. The society's own, true, integrant: 
reliable, upright, incorruptible, open-hearted, tender-coi: 
scienced sutler, caught an idea from this story; and, spurrc. 
on by the promptings of avarice in the human heart, he ccr_ 
eluded to increase the cost of the stationery — he, whose for- 
tune they had cherished from its infancy! whose welfare they 
had spared nothing to look after (when it occasioned no ex- 
pense)! whose success up to date they had smiled upon with 



CAMP-FIRE CHATS OF THE CIVIL WAR. 183 

pride! — he, the one whom from all the wide circle of the 
business world they had chosen for commercial virtue! Verily, 
Ingratitude has a stone heart, and Mis-Fortune is often clad in 
gold. It was not the extravagant price per ream that the 
society must pay for their paper — current price of which is 
$2.oo@$3.oo — which now appalled them, but their annoy- 
ance was that they must hereafter acknowledge their non- 
infallibility in judging human nature. iVlas! " how much the 
heart can bear, and yet not break!" But, thankfully, their 
presence of mind returned, after which the society bore no 
ill will toward their sutler, for it was not their policy to allow 
the phenomenon of bad feeling in their existence ; and then the 
sutler was a good sutler — he sold many good things, great 
among which was bottled good humor. So that the station- 
ery question was the only one to be dealt with now. The 
society once more reverted to history, and read how Sharon 
Turner " wrote the third volume of his « Sacred History of the 
World' upon paper which did not cost him a farthing," though 
he drew annually a literary pension of three hundred pounds. 
His paper consisted of "torn and angular fragments of letters 
and notes; of covers of periodicals — gray, drab, or green —writ- 
ten in thick, round hand over a small print: of shreds of curl- 
ing-paper unctuous with pomatum or bear's grease; anA of 
the white wrappers in which his proofs were sent from the 
printers. The paper, sometimes as thin as a bank-note, was 
written on both sides; and was so sodden with ink, plastered 
on with a pen worn to a stump, that hours were frequently 
wasted in discovering on which side of it certain sentences 
were written." The S. P. U. H. remembered all this, and 
concluded tlip.c tliey had read history to too good a purpose 
not to " vvrin[^ /ictory from defeat'* in the present emergency* 
At once they hit upon a plan which possessed two advan- 
tages: One in giving discipline to the sutler by withdrawing 
their patronage; the other in becoming even more historic 



184 CAMP-FIRE CHATS OF THE CIVIL WAR. 

than the hereinbefore mentioned lord, by using anything 
which could be written upon, whether paper or not. Of 
course this scheme gave considerable variety to the material 
of which the manuscript should be composed, the same in- 
cluding collars, cuffs, shirt fronts, — a practice held over from 
college examinations, when the students were accustomed to 
write the answers to all hard questions upon their cuffs before- 
hand, — boot soles, leather hat-bands, the smooth side of bark 
from neighboring trees — anything to keep from buying paper 
of the sutler. Finally the crisis came. One veteran arose, 
and spoke loud and long. The society's notes were being 
made very full and complete. The speaker grew more elo- 
quent, and his words fell faster than ever. Every pencil was 
being pushed to its full capacity. The manuscript now 
consisted largely of sticks and stones. How the report of the 
speech was to be kept together could not be considered in the 
present state of high nervous tension. Not a word must be 
lost. Then rolled forth with great force the burning syllables 
of the peroration, at a terrible velocity. What could be done? 
Everything available for stationery had been used — even the 
beautiful hands of the members were covered with notes! 
But, ah! the society must not be overcome by circumstances; 
hence they hurriedly called up the camp-dog, turned up the in- 
side of one of his ears, and went rapidly on with their labor 
of love. But from this proceeding another difficulty arose — 
misfortunes again came in a pair. Everything went on 
smoothly enough until the society began to collect and ar- 
range their minutes of this unfortunate camp-fire, when alas! 
the canine had fled, with the notes still untranscribed from his 
ear; hence if these chats seem incomplete, the cause is hereby 
made apparent. Then it was, to be sure, that the society be- 
gp- to feel some sympathy for the poor printers who must 
iit^v^i> "follow copy." — -Furthermore, notice is hereby given 
that, if any one may find a camp-dog with "page 184" written 



CAMP-FIRE CHATS OF THE CIVIL WAR. 185 

upon the inside of his left ear, a favor will be conferred upon 
suffering posterity by returning the same to this camp-fire. 
No questions will be asked, nor any reward -paid, as that 
would tend to accumulate a stock of dogs around the fire, 
which proceeding would be unhistoric, inglorious and undesira- 
ble, except when rations were short. And, still further, be it 
known that not only his left ear, but also the entire lost dog 
is copyrighted, and therefore cannot be used for anything else 
until the expiration of twenty-eight (28) years, at which time, 
it is thought, he will be valuable only as a relic for the museum 
of the S. P. U. H., since he had already reached the age of 
discretion. ] 

"As soon as I returned," continued Mr. Crawley, " Craw- 
ford began to cut each leaf of * fools-cap ' lengthwise in the 
center, pasting the two strips thus obtained together, then 
combining the double strips until he had a string of paper 
seven hundred forty-six yards, two feet long, when he begun 
to write.*' [This letter is in the society's collection.] 

" The letter discussed a great variety of topics, and was 
embellished with numerous original pen etchings intended to 
more fully elucidate the various subjects discussed. While 
he was at v/ork on this lengthy epistle I frequently visited 
him in his tent at night. One evening I asked: 

" ' What do you think the postage will be on your stack 
of nonsense?' 

"Upon which he burst into an uncontrollable fit of laugh- 
tiT, replying that he would not allow that to keep him from 
sending the letter now, after he had spent so much time in 
writing it, and preparing the illustrations. He paid the 
postage on the letter, but would never tell me how much it was. 

*' Well,' said I, " I must be going back to my tent — I also 
must write home to-night.' 

" ' If you'll wait a minute I'll read you the last sentence of 
the letter.' 



l86 CAMP-FIRE CHATS OF THE CIVIL WAR. 

" ' All right,' I replied. 

" ' Well, here it is.' Then he read: 

u * * * 'And now, my dear Angelica, I can tell you that 
I am very happy, because the assurance dawns upon me thai 
I am near the end of my paper; and I have only to say that, 
after I have been through the usual number of pitched battles, 
long, weary marches, and narrow escapes; and have at last 
completed this letter, — the climax of all my toil and hardsliip, 
— -if you are not satisfied with the length of it, I will come 
home as soon as our business at the front is finished, and, 
trusting that my affection for you will have increased sufiiciently 
to warrant our marriage, will have the ceremony performed; 
and then you shall obey me when I order you to assist me 
in writing you a letter of sufficient length. 

'Wearily yours, C 



5 J» 



Mr. Crawley resumed : " Sometimes, when we were 
making a forced march, day and night, with trouble ahead of 
us, the column would halt for a few minutes, to allow our 
trains and howitzers to ' close up.' We generally dismounted 
to rest ourselves and horses, when some of the men would 
throw themselves upon the ground; or, sitting with their 
backs against a tree, with rein in hand, would endeavor to 
catch a moment's sleep before the shrill notes of the bugle 
sounded the advance. 

" This was Crawford's opportunity. With a large tree 
branch under his arm he would rush across the body of some 
sleeper, stamping his heels in the earth, and crying: 

"'Whoa! Whoa!' 

" Supposing that a horse with something tied to his halter 
had broken loose and was running over him, the awakened 
soldier would jump up, throw his arms wildly about him, and 
sometimes run several yards, joining in the cry, before realiz- 
ing the farcical situation, when he would return rubbing his 
eyes, with chagrin, discomfiture and rage depicted on his 
countenance. 



1 88 CAMP-FIRE CHATS OF THE CIVIL WAR. 

" Of course this made some sport for the comrades, and was 
not always consonant with the feehngs of the victimized 
soldier; but pouting in the army, as elsewhere, proved very 
unprofitable, so that serenity soon prevailed again." 

Mr. C. F. Matteson then related this: 

"The regiment to which I belonged (17th Illinois In- 
fantry) spent part of the summer and most of the fall of 1861 
in tramping over the hills and through the swamps of South- 
eastern Missouri; and it is hardly necessary to say that to an 
Illinois boy, this part of the State did not appear quite as 
near to Paradise as to the other place. The regiment was 
finally stationed at Cape Girardeau for winter quarters. Dur- 
ing the winter many of the boys fell sick with that great- 
est scourge of the army, the measles. Among the sick was 
one ' Bob,' full of the dryest wit imaginable. Bob was very 
sick; so much so, that we thought he would ' turn up his toes 
to the daisies' — a poetic form of saying that one was going to 
the Great Hereafter. I was a sergeant in his company, and as 
such it was one of my duties to visit the boys, and in cases 
like his to learn, if possible, what disposition they wished 
made of their personal property; also to take any last message 
for their friends at home, and to say to those friends that Johnnie 
or Jimmie was the * best, most faithful, honest and obedient 
soldier in the company,' and that since he was gone we did 
not know how we should get along without him, etc., etc. 
As Mark Twain says, 'It soothed them,' and did not hurt us at 
all. Well I had received Bob's 'last will and testament,' 
what I was to say to the boys for him, bade him good-bye, 
telling him to keep a stiff upper lip, that I would have the 
whole company come down when we ' planted ' him, which 
should be done in the best style, and started for the door, 
when the nurse called me back, saying, ' Bob wants to tell 
you something else.' I returned to the cot, and inquired, 

« ' Well, Bob, what is it? Is there anything else?' 



CAMP-FIRE CHATS OF THE CIVIL WAR. 1 89 

" 'Yes, Charlie,! wish' — and he spoke very slow and labored, 
with a pause after almost every word; — *I wish — you — 
would tell — one thing more for me.' 

"« Of course I will,' I said ; 'what is it?' 

" ' I wish you would tell 'em, when they plant me, to 
place me with my face down, my head to the east, and a clam 
shell in each hand.' 

" ' All right,' said I, ' I'll do it.' Now I knew if I did not 
ask him why he wanted to be buried so, it would be the death 
of him in less than an hour, as there is nothing more fatal than 
an undeveloped joke. 'But why so. Bob? ' I asked. 

" ' Well, I think, Charlie, if old Gabe would put off that 
horn businessof his a reasonable length of time, I could tunnel 
through under the Mississippi, and come up from Illinois, for 
I'd hate like h — 1 to rise from Missouri.' 

" The relieved and satisfied smile that crept over his tired 
face, and the merry twinkle of his eye, satisfied me that Bob's 
request would not be complied with then. He served out 
his full term of enlistment, and still lives in the State that he 
was so anxious to rise from. I think that the effort saved 
his life." 




CAMP-FIRE XV. 

THE RACE FOR COLUMBIA — " TO AMPUTATE, OR NOT TO 
AMPUTATE?" 

F all the various organizations," said Mr. F. Y. Hedley, 
Adjutant 33d Illinois Infantry, A. A, A. G., 3d Brigade, 
4th Division, lytli Army Corps, — " whose united effort 
preserved to us nationality, none affiliated so heartily or 
trusted each other so completely, as did the 15th and lytli 
Corps. They were the Siamese Twins of the army. To- 
gether and at the same moment they came into being; side by 
side they grew to sturdy manhood, and marched and fought 
until peace smiled approval upon them, and fame pro- 
claimed their glory. Their regiments had gathered at Caiio 
in the early days of the struggle; as divisions they had fought 
at Donelson and Shiloh; and when they came to be army 
corps they bore their full share of the hard struggle at Vicks- 
burg. In the grand movements about Atlanta they were the 
whip-lash of the army — snapped hither and thither, from 
flank to flank, marching by night to reach a new vanta^? 
ground, whereon to fight by day. In the memorable Marcli 
to the Sea, and the raid through the Carolinas, their services 
were most conspicuous. And then the end came, and tb.ey 
marched proudly side by side down the streets of the national 
capital, cheered by all Christendom. 

"The dramatic brilliancy of the achievements of these 
superb commands had a fitting counterpart in the phenomenal 
ability of their chiefs. Grant had personally commanded these 
troops before their organization as corps. He it was who 

190 



CAMP-FIRE CHATS OF THE CIVIL WAR. I9I 

gave them their identity, and selected their commanders. At 
first, the 15th Corps was led by the brilliant Sherman, and the 
17th by the peerless McPherson, both of whom were speedily 
promoted, giving place respectively to Logan and Blair, who 
were regarded by their troops with admiration and affection. 
They were instinctively recognized as conspicuous types of 
the volunteer soldier whom too many of the West Point 
martinets affected to despise. Their men had heard them on 
the hustings in political campaigns, and knew them. Logan 
had fought with a musket at Bull Run; in turn he had com- 
manded regiment, brigade and division, and his magnetic 
presence and soldierly bearing had given them confidence in 
many a struggle. Blair had organized the free soilers of St. 
Louis while Sumter was yet being fired on, throttling rebel- 
lion in Missouri, and saving Illinois and Indiana from the fate 
of Kentucky and Virginia, and afterward commanding in 
the field with courage and marked ability. The great prestige 
of their first chiefs, Sherman and McPherson; the conspicu- 
ous services and the similarity in the careers of their later 
commanders, and the coincidences of their own history in the 
field, gave to these commands an espi-lt de corps and a feel- 
ing of comradeship which was wonderful, provoking friendly 
rivalries which led to extraordinary effort in battle and march, 
and of which this sketch may serve as an example. 

" Sherman's army lay grouped about Savannah from the 
occupation of the city a day or two before Christmas, i86z|, 
until the middle of January, 1865, when a movement upon 
South Carolina began. The 14th and 20th Corps and a part 
of the 15th moved by land to the vicinity of Beaufort; the re- 
mander of the 15th and the entire 17th were transported from 
Thunderbolt Inlet by water. After a sharp engagement a 
lodgment upon the Charleston railroad was effected in the 
vicinity of Pocotaligo. January 30 the march for the in- 
terior commenced, and on February 3 Mower and Giles A, 



192 CAMP-FIRE CHATS OF THE CIVIL WAR. 

Smith, with the 3d and 4th Divisions of the 17th Corps 
effected the passage of the Salkehatchie, wading and swim- 
ming that stream and its indescribable swamps, in the face of 
a fierce resistance by the enemy. On the 6th the 15th Corps 
was at Hamburg, on the railway between Augusta and 
Charleston, and the 17th Corps at Midway, a few miles further 
east. To this time, the objective point was unknown to the 
troops, and as the stations named were about equi-distant from 
Augusta and Columbia, there was much conjecture as to the 
route to be pursued. Four days later, the J7th Corps crossed 
the South Edisto after a brisk engagement, and on the 12th, 
after more sharp fighting, Orangeburg was occupied, the 15th 
and 17th Corps having crossed the main branch of the Edisto 
about the same time. Then it was realized that Columbia 
lay in the line of march, and the fact was regarded by the 
troops with unusual interest. They recognized Columbia as 
being of a verity ' the hot-bed of rebellion,' the birthplace of 
nullification and secession, and that its occupation was properly 
to be regarded as a triumph more significant than the capture 
of Richmond itself. These views were peculiarly current in 
these two corps, whose route was evidently nearest in line 
with the city; and the men of the two commands commenced 
to observe movements with a rare degree of interest and ex- 
pectation. On the 13th all four columns, pursuing parallel 
roads, were headed toward Columbia, about forty miles dis- 
tant. The 17th Corps had the inside line, on the right of 
Cawcaw Swamp. The 15th was to the left, and had a some- 
what more direct route, but more difficult on account of the 
passage of several small streams. On the 14th but little dis- 
tance was made, both these columns meeting with stout op- 
position. The 15th, however, managed to forge ahead a 
little, and reached a point about twelve miles below Columbia. 
On the 15th, that corps was sharply engaged, while the 17th 
had less trouble and made a march of fourteen miles, getting 



CAMP-FIRE CHATS OF THE CIVIL WAR. 



'93 



well in line with its rival. That night the enemy fiercely 
shelled the camp of the 15th Corps, wounding a few men. 

" The next day. February 16, both corps broke camp early 
and after making a march of twelve miles drew up on the 
west bank of the Congaree River, just below the confluence of 
Saluda and Broad Rivers. On the opposite side, on ground 
gently sloping to the river, lay Columbia, its wide streets and 
beautiful buildings making a handsome picture. The im- 
posing walls of the new capitol, yet unfinished, rose in massive 
beauty, and near it stood its less conspicuous neighbor, the old 
capitol. Up the river a short distance, and on the same side, 
was a water-mill, which proved to be full of rebel riflemen, 
who, finding a conspicuous mark in a large gray horse upon 
which the adjutant of the 33d Illinois regiment was mounted, 
fired a volley at that officer while he was engaged in forming 
a color-line. Three men in his vicinity were wounded by this 
fire. A few shots from one of the famous little Rodman 
guns of Clayton's ist Minnesota Battery knocked the water- 
wheel to pieces and set timbers a-flying at so lively a rate that 
the riflemen tumbled out and scampered away like rats from 
a burning barn. About the same time a battery of Parrott 
guns threw a few shells into the city, and dispersed a crowd 
of people plundering the rebel commissariat. It was 
while these events were transpiring that General Sherman 
rode up and examined the city through his glass, then re- 
marking to General Belknap, afterward (Secretary of War) 
commanding the 3d Brigade, 4th Division, 17th Corps, that 
he « would appreciate the men who first made a lodgment in 
Columbia.' That night the 15th Corps passed to the left of 
the 17th, under orders from General Sherman to eflfect a cross- 
ing of Broad River, three miles above, and enter the cit}^ from 
the north; and while this movement was in progress General 
Belknap was devising a plan for carrying into effect the hint 
let drop by General Sherman. 
IS 



194 CAMP-FIRE CHATS OF THE CIVIL WAR. 

" After a conference with Lient.-Colonel Kennedy, of the 
13th Iowa, the regiment formerly commanded by himself, 
General Belknap dispatched a party to search for a boat. 
They were so fortunate as to find a leaky, rickety old scow, 
and by dint of all-night hard work, under the superintendence 
of Capt. H. C. McArthur, who had at one time been a car- 
penter, they succeeded in repairing it to such an extent as to 
make it tolerably seaworthy. About 10 o'clock on the 
morning of the 17th, Lieut.-Colonel Kennedy, with twenty 
men from his color company, and accompanied by Captain 
McArthur and Lieutenant Goodell, of General Belknap's 
staff, embarked, and essayed the passage of the stream. It 
was a desperate undertaking. The current of the Congaree 
was inconceivably swift, and the route lay across dangerous 
rapids which would have deterjed less determined spirits. 
But energy and courage were strong in these gallant men, and 
after several narrow escapes from wreck on the rocks, they 
landed in safety. Ascending the slope to the town at a 
doubie-quick, at a distance of a couple of squares from the 
river they intercepted a rebel officer making off in a buggy. 
The officers of the party and their color-bearer took possession 
of the vehicle and drove rapidly toward the capltol buildings, 
directing the squad to follow at the double-quick. When 
within two squares of their destination, Lieut.-Colonel Ken- 
nedy and party were fired upon by a squad of "W' heeler's 
Cavalry. Seizing the only gun in the party. Captain Mc- 
Arthur jumped from the buggy and fired at the enemy, now 
in retreat, unhorsing one of their number. Waiting until the 
arrival of the remainder of tlie 13th Iowa squad, Lieut.- 
Colonel Kennedy went on to the capitol buildings, and dis- 
played his national flag from the old State House, and liis 
regimental banner from the new one. He had been in pos- 
session about an hour when an officer of the 9th Iowa from 
the 15th Corps, rushed up, colors in hand, and breathlessl}' 
asked the way to the dome of the old buildinsf. 



CAMP-FIRE CHATS OF THE CIVIL WAR. I95 



(( ( 



You're too latel' hallooed Captain McArthur; «the 
17th Corps has been here more than three-quarters of an 
hour!' 

"An expressive but impolite ejaculation was the only 
response. A short time afterward, Lieut.-Colonel Kennedy 
missed his national flag. It had been taken by a member of 
the 15th Corps, but was restored to its proper owners about 
a month later. 

*' To return to the narrati\'e. After Lieut.-Colonel Ken- 
nedy's party had accomplished the passage of the river, a 
party of the 32d Illinois Regiment, also from General Bel- 
knap's brigade, boated across, and proceeded on the double- 
quick to the city hall. The color-bearer was sent to the sum- 
mit of the tower to display his flag, and the officers in charge, 
Adjutant Hedley and Captain Richardson, remained in the 
mayor's oflice, having been accosted by a citizen there who 
said that he was a councilman, and that the mayor had gone 
out to meet the advancing troops and surrender the city. In 
the mayor's oflice were found two flags — the rebel stars and 
bars, made of some coarse woolen stuff", now in the possession 
of Adjutant Hedley; the other a silk State flag. Captain 
Richardson tendered the latter to General Belknap, who de- 
sired him to retain it, which he does to this day. 

"While there is no question of the first occupation of 
Columbia by General ,Belknap's command (3d Brigade, 4th 
Division, 17th Corps) the truth of history demands the state- 
ment that the formal surrender of the city was made to Colonel 
Stone, of the 15th Corps. Major Cramer, of the 30th lov/a, 
of that command, had rafted five companies of his regiment 
across the river above the city early that morning, under a 
heavy fire. He drove the enemy from the outset, capturing 
several prisoners; and when near the city met a carriage 
bearing a white flag and conveying the mayor and marshal 
of Columbia, who tendered a surrender of the city. Colond 



196 CAMP-FIRE CHATS OF THE CIVIL WAR. 

Stone soon came up, and a formal surrender was made to him. 
He, with Major Cramer, then entered the mayor's carriage, 
drove to the city, and established a provost guard. 

" The part taken by the 13th Iowa was suitably recognized 
by Gen. Giles A. Smith, commanding the 4th Division, 
T 7th Corps, who issued an order reciting some of the inci- 
dents herein narrated, and congratulating Lieut.-Colonel 
Kennedy, and the men under his command, upon the success- 
ful accomplishment of their undertaking. General Sherman 
had, however, forgotten his remark that he *would appreciate 
the men who first made a lodgment in Columbia.' His re- 
port acknowledged the formal surrender of the city to Colonel 
Stone, and only incidentall}^ stated that ' about the same time 
a small party of the 17th Corps crossed the Congaree in a 
skiff and entered Columbia from a point immediately west.' 
But even this had escaped his memory when he wrote his 
* memoirs,' ten years later, for he then said 'the 17th Corps 
did not enter the city at all!' " 

Mr. Sol. R. Smith then remembered the following inci- 
dent, and said : 

" At the battle of Antietam, a colonel had his arm pain- 
fully shattered, and he was borne from the field of battle by 
his brothers and a private soldier. They carried him across 
the country a long and toilsome distance, to the house of a 
Maryland Union farmer. Every step of the journey was 
torture to the sufferer, who was indeed in great agony when 
the party reached the house. Then came the ubiquitous 
Yankee surgeon, with his glittering knives and cruel saws, 
and made hasty preparations to amputate the ailing member, 
The farmer protested vehemently, declaring that the man 
would die if the arm were cut off. The surgeon insisted, as 
usual: 

*' ' The patient will be dead before to-morrow night,' said 
the surgeon. 



CAMP-FIRE CHATS OF THE CIVIL WAR. I97 

"'No he'll not^ replied the farmer; ' I'll take care of him 
myself.' 

" The surgeon again insisted, saying that he had no time 
to lose. The colonel's brothers agreed with the surgeon. 
There was about to be a small war. Again was agitated 
that great semi-suicidal question which was discussed so prac- 
tically and tragically in nearly every floating hospital of the 
Civil War: 

To amputate, or not to amputate? that is the question: 

Whether *tis nobler in the mind to suffer 

Th' unsymmetry of one-armed men, and draw 

A pension, thereby shuffling off a part 

Of morcal coil ; or, trusting unhinged nature, 

Take arms against a cruel surgeon's knife, 

And, by opposing rusty theories, 

Risk a return to dust in the full shape 

Of man. ***** 

" But the determined old farmer dispatched his son on nis 
fleetest horse across the fields to the other side of the mountain 
after a country physician, who was a friend and neighbor, but 
a rank rebel. 

" When the rustic Esculapius arrived there followed a long 
contention with the Yankee hewer of bones, the result of 
which was that the arm was saved, and after some months of 
careful nursing, the colonel galloped off to join his reoiment, 
a comparatively healthy man. He subsequently became 
Governor of Ohio, and was afterward elected President of 
the United States filling the office with credit." 




CAMP-FIRE XVL 

"BRAZEN effrontery" — CORDUROY ROADS — LONG JOHN, 
THE DARKEY. 

P[OMETIMES the thread of human life is stretched 
across the edge of swords sharpened variously; some, 
times it is sustained by very little more than the shadow 
of a circumstance; at other times it is held together by only a 
simple, single thought — unyielding determination, supported 
by irrepressible courage. 

One incident was related at this camp-fire by Mr. James 
M. Allen, Company F, 2d Illinois Cavalry, in which "un- 
bridled audacity" saved the lives of four soldiers: 

" While Lee's Cavalry was in camp in advance of General 
Banks' army, at the commencement of his Red River cam- 
paign, four of us were very suddenly placed in a peculiar and 
dangerous situation, about ten miles west of the city of Alex- 
andria, La. Like all the cavalry boys, we became uneasy 
and restless from our inactivity; so we took a scout on our 
own account, contrary to strict orders not to go beyond the 
picket line, as that part of the country was infested with 
guerillas, who took no prisoners, but shot men down without 
remorse. Hence, to accomplish our intent we evaded the 
pickets and went north toward Red River until we struck 
a corduroy road which ran parallel with the river, crossing 
a swamp and a bayou. When we reached this road we ob- 
served that a larger force of horsemen had recently passed over 
it going east, as the tracks were fresh. It is very natural to 
shrink from a mysterious danger, hence we concluded to turn 

198 



200 CAMP-FIRE CHATS OF THE CIVIL WAR. 

hack west, cross the swamp and return by another road, since 
we knew that no horse tracks in that vicinity coukl have been 
made by the horses of our boys. We rode up to within three 
hundred yards of the bridge, when we saw seven mounted 
rebs standing on picket duty at the further end. They 
had not seen us, and as we were not in search of either 
gore or glory, we conchided to retrace our steps to camp 
But just as we had come back to the edge of the swamp we saw 
approaching at some distance a large force of either rebel 
cavalry or guerillas, who saw us at the same time. Then 
came tlie ' rub.' We were between two millstones, but, 
happily, the one stone was smaller than the other; yet they 
were both stones, and were rapidly coming together to 
crush us. To say the least, we were in a sorry plight; water 
and swamp on each side of us, guerillas and rebel cavalry at 
each end of us, while action on our part must be immediate 
and certain. 

" I held the command, and of course the boys looked to me 
for direction. ' Of two evils, choose the lesser ' — this flashed 
across my mind; seven rebel cavalry were less than over two 
hundred guerillas, so we wheeled around again, put spurs to 
our horses, and darted forward over the corduroy roads 
for the seven pickets at the other end of the bridge. The 
chances were desperate, but when /nen become desperate, 
chances soon yield to the superior force. 

" On we went with the momentum of a whole regiment. 
The pickets at the end of the bridge saw us coming, and also 
saw us followed by two or three hundred other horsemen, 
whom they naturally concluded were our allies, judging from 
the bold front which we presented. We took advantage of 
this and felt, indeed, that ' fortune favors the brave.' We 
dashed forward, revolvers in hand ready for use, with a yell 
that echoed fiir up and down the cypress swamp. The terror 
we inspired by the rapidity of our motion, and the fierce de- 



CAMP-FIRE CHATS OF THE CtVIL WAR. 20I 

termination which we carried with us, needed no additional 
elements to convince the pickets that we were just exactly 
what we appeared to be — four desperate men supported by 
nearly three hundred (enemies). 

" The pickets were fierce-looking fellows, however they 
may have felt; and they seemed to have had no idea of being 
intimidated, so that immediately upon their discovery of us, 
which occurred when we were within about two hundred 
yards of them, they formed in line to resist our progress, and 
suddenly presented to our view seven of the ugliest double- 
barreled shot-guns that I ever saw. 

" After this achievement any preference of the before-men- 
tioned evils immediately vanished from our advantage. Now 
it was take the one evil or be taken by it. 

" * Boys, spur up,' I said ' we must go right through 'em, 
or they'll go through us.' 

"'On we go!' returned one of the boys, and forward we 
darted with a dash, a splutter and a splash. 

" Our horses — trusty fellows — seemed to catch the spirit 
of the occasion, and as we glided along my voice seemed to 
become all-powerful as I gave out the solid command: 

" ' Surrender! you black miscreants! ' 

" We were then at one end of the hundred and fifty foot 
bridge while they were at the other, raising their guns to fire. 
But our speed was unchecked, and on we went. When we 
had half crossed the bridge, we flourished our revolvers and I 
yelled again: 

"'Down with your guns! ' and they obeyed. 'Into the 
river with them,' I continued, and this was also obeyed. 

" What a relief it was to us as we saw those guns pitched 
into the water; and when the splash came I tell you it was 
the most welcome sound I ever heard! 

" There was no time to lose, however, and since they were 
all mounted we ordered them to wheel about and put spurs to 



202 CAMP-FIRE CHATS OF THE CIVIL WAR. 

their horses. Two of our party followed close behind them, 
covering them with revolvers, while the other two rode among 
them and disarmed them of .their sabers and revolvers. 

"About the time we had taken the last revolver the 
guerillas behind us opened fire on us at long range. Then 
for the first time our captives realized that they had suc- 
cumbed to a grand successful piece of their own strategy, and 
began to curse themselves for surrendering. After crossing 
the swamp we returned to camp with our prisoners, by an- 
other road. The rebs followed us hotly right up to our 
picket line, keeping a constant fire in our rear, but doing 
no damage; and we returned their fire with about the same 
effect. When we arrived in camp we turned the prisoners 
over to the provost marshal, related our experience and 
awaited the result, fully expecting to be put under arrest for 
going outside of the lines against orders. But we escaped 
punishment; I presume the general thought we had suffered 
sufficiently, and had learned a good lesson." 

Gen. H. H. Thomas then said: 

"A day or two before the battle of Kriston, N. C, our 
pickets near that place captured a suspicious darkey,' who 
had been found lurking near our lines. He was an odd speci- 
men, more than six feet tall, lean, * lantern-jawed,' with a 
mouth of longitudinous dimensions. He was suspected of 
being sent out by the rebels to get information, and was kept 
at General Carter's headquarters, where he made no end of 
fun for us. Our talk was largely of General Sherman, 
whose advent was daily expected on his March from the Sea. 

" ' Long John,' as our captive had been christened by the 
Chicago member of the staff, was all ears; and we resolved to 
play a joke on him. 

*' A rather distinguished looking major, serving on Major- 
General Cox's staff, happening to drop in, we tipped him 
the wink and played him off for ' Old Cump,' asking a thou- 



CAMP-FIRE CHATS OF THE CIVIL WAR. 203 

sand questions about his march, etc. Long John's e)^es pro- 
truded like huge saucers; and when we introduced him he 
struck a theatrical attitude, and saluted the supposed general 
thus: 

" ' Why, bress de Lor', Mars' Sherman, I'se heeid a heap 
'bout you! Dey done said you had hawns. Day done said 
yo' berd come clar down to heer,' (placing an immense hand 
on his right hip)^ ' Dey so feered o' you. Mars' Sherman, if 
dey heer yo' name tree hundred mile off, dat town's done bin 
captured.' 

" We all shouted, except our extemporized General Sher- 
man, who took it all as stoically as the great chieftain himself 
would have done. 

" We became satisfied of the loyalty of our altitudinous 
darkey, and released him. When General Sherman joined us 
at Goldsboro, we related the incident to him, and he was 
greatly amused, replying that it was the neatest compliment 
he had ever received." 





CAMP-FIRE XVII. 

LAZY JIM's stratagem TO AVOID WALKING BACK TO 
CAMP — "THEY GOT OUR FLAG" ANECDOTE OF GEN- 
ERAL SHERMAN. 

•ITH the kindling of the fagots of this camp-fire the 
boys assembled in a goodly number, and, chatting 
with those he knew, the scribe of the S. P. U. H. 
appeared also, pencil in hand, as eager as ever for the spirit 
to startle the veterans into active endeavors. The social at- 
mosphere was just as genial, pleasant, and unruffled as ever, 
save by the memory of the drum corps from the Freedmen^s 
Exodus Society. It is an old saying that if you speak of a 
certain evil individual, some of his emissaries will appear. 
But, without even hinting that the application is practical to 
the case in hand, it may as well be acknowledged that, after 
the camp had received a communication announcing the re- 
turn of the said corps, the commander suggested that a change 
of scenery might be pleasant, and even expedient. The sug- 
gestion was adopted without delay; and when the drum corps 
arrived they beheld, instead of the jolly camp-fire that had 
greeted them on their previous visit, a scene similar to the ap- 
pearance of a camp that had been made by the almost tradi- 
tional " Forty-Niners," on their way to the gold fields of the 
Pacific slope. 

On the other hand, with their usually rapid method ol 
doing things, the veterans and the S. P. U. H. accomplished 
the change of camp to a secret place in a very short while, 
and all fear was then allayed. Once more everybody lent a 

204 



CAMP-FIRE CHATS OF THE CIVIL WAR. 205 

smile and a hearty hand clasp to his comrade, and amid the 
crackling of the twigs and branches which the ruddy flames 
were devouring, many a jest caused a laugh to go round. It 
was pleasant enough to listen to the witticisms and jokes, but 
the aforesaid scribe greatly desired a longer story, and agree- 
ably to a nudge, a veteran called on Leonard Oliver, 13th 
West Virginia Infantry, for a yarn. Taken somewhat aback 
at the invitation, he pleaded forgetfulness, but a comrade 
prodded his memory by saying, " Tell us about Jim Frye, 
Leonard ! " 

« Well, I can do that if you want to hear it." 

" Why, of course," responded several. 

"Here goes then. We were camped at Winfield, W. Va., 
and we had a fellow by the name of Jim Frye in our regi- 
ment, who was shiftless, good-natured, witty and — lazy. 
Partly because of his imperturbable good-nature and partly be- 
cause he was too lazy to parry the attacks made upon him, 
Frye became the butt of all the raillery and fun abroad in 
camp. 

" Well, one morning some of the boys were lounging in a 
store near the suburbs of the town, discussing the probability 
of the truth of certain rumors afloat to the eflTect that rebel 
spies had been seen about the outskirts of the camp, and that 
various depredations had been committed, in which small 
stock and poultry had suffered to an alarming extent. 

" During the discussion, Frye, who sat astride of the coal 
box, whittling and spitting at the shavings he made, kept a 
rem^ikable silence, all the while eying the floor meditativeh , 
as if he had never considered the fact that pork meant ham. 
sausages, 'fat, salt and unctuous,' and fowls meant savory 
stews, and gravy, and various other luxuries not always pur- 
chasable in camp — though seldom wanting. 

" One of Jim's good qualities consisted of being a hunter. 
When he felt like it he would sally out with his gun, and 



206 CAMP-FIRE CHATS OF THE CIVIL WAR. 

seldom returned to camp without having bagged some game. 
The air had become thick with stories of the rebels and their 
misdoings in the country, and the people in the neighborhood 
were in a continual state of alarm, and the troops were kept 
wide awake, and on the alert. 

" It was at this time that Jim announced his intention to 
his comrades in the store, to go out for a day's hunt. 

" ' You look out,' called one of the boys, 'or you'll get 
nabbed and hauled into camp here for a reb! ' 

"'Dunno as I'd object to that, seein' as the tramp back 
allers sets hard on me anyways,' answered Jim, as he saunt- 
ered off, and, as he went, a person of fine observation might 
have noted Jim's eyes light up as if the friendly admonition 
had suo^g-ested a brilliant idea to him. 

" It was a bright day in February, and patches of snow 
gleamed and sparkled in the sunlight here and there upon the 
hills; the air was bracing and almost chilly, but the warmth 
of the sunshine bespoke soft ground and mud later in the day. 
Soft fleecy clouds, lovely in their white repose, floated in the 
blue heavens, and rested lovingly against the great silent 
hills. 

"Jim had a great deal of what we fellows dubbed * poetry 
of nature,' and he was not altogether blind as a bat to the 
beauty around him. Indeed, the day was so serene and de- 
lightful, the forest so quiet and restful, and he found the air 
so exhilarating that he wandered on many miles further than 
he usually did, in search of game. Once down to work, how- 
ever, he had no end of luck in filling his game bag. True, 
the quails kept provokingly shy of him, but woe unto the un- 
suspecting chicken that came within range of his gun. ISn 
matter if the rabbits did go skurrying across the fields. Jim 
solaced himself with a ten-pound gobbler that strayed up to 
him. The day had worn pretty well along when the vivid 
question arose in his mind how to get his spoils into camp, 



CAMP-FIRE CHATS OF THE CIVIL WAR. 207 

for, as he had averred, the 'home stretch' bore hard on him, 
and his indolent nature recoiled from the exertion. 

" At this juncture, an idea occurred to him, and he forth- 
with proceeded to put it into execution. The contents of the 
game bag he secured in a manner intended to disarm sus- 
picion, and defy inspection. This done, he set out for the 
farmhouse nearest at hand. The worthy farmer and his 
boys were engaged in unloading a cart in the yard, and thev 
eyed Jim's approach suspiciously, a fact which Jim noted as 
being propitious to the furtherance of his scheme. 

" In accordance with his request, Jim was taken into the 
house and regaled with ' a cold bite,' after doing justice to 
which, he casually remarked that he was a rebel soldier, and 
supplemented his words with the startling announcement that 
the Confederate troops were within six hours' march of that lo- 
cality. He also dwelt long and significantly upon the harrow- 
ing fact that the rebels were preparing to scatter ruin and 
desolation through the country and lay waste the farms, burn 
dwellings and make prisoners of the farmers themselves. 

"Jim was not slow to discover that his words had not 
fallen unheeded. Fear and consternation were depicted upon 
the faces of those around him, mysterious glances were ex- 
changed between members of the family, and faint whispers 
betokened suppressed excitement. Nothing loth, Jim seated 
himself before the fire and awaited results, which, as he fondly 
hoped, would complete his scheme. He fully expected the 
farmer and his sons would make a prisoner of him and take 
him to camp, and as hasty preparations of some kind began 
in other parts of the house, he felt certain of success. 

" There was flitting here and there, and hurrying back 
and forth through the chambers overhead, and excited con- 
sultations were held by the family. He found it hard to re- 
press a chuckle as he waited in momentary expectancy of the 
desired arrest. But the hours grew apace, and not a finger 



2o8 CAMP-FIRE CHATS OF THE CIVIL WAR. 

did the patriotic farmer raise toward making him a prisoner. 
The bustling and hurrying about ceased, and the house be- 
came suddenly and strang^ely quiet. It was unaccountable, 
and Jim concluded to investigate matters a little. He peeped 
into several rooms and finally discovered that the premises 
were deserted, and it dawned upon his mind that the whole 
family had given him the slip, and, somewhat crest-fallen, he 
shouldered his gun and weighty game bag, and set out for 
the next house to try his joke again. 

" Upon arriving at the house he found its only occupant 
was a purring cat stretched on the carpet before the fire, 
while the disordered condition of things told him that his story 
about the rebs had preceded him. Jim began to think that 
his little plot was no good, and by the time he had gone into 
several houses along the road he was sure of it, and, tired of 
stalking from house to house, he set off for camp across the 
muddy fields, and reached there before ' drill.' 

" It was about 4 o'clock in the afternoon that the coun- 
try folk began to pour into the town of Winfield. By 6 
o'clock the town was a stirring mass of anxious looking men, 
white faced women, and crying children. 

" Our colonel was nonplussed. He had made several at- 
tempts to find the true cause for the existing state of alarm, 
but having failed, he took extra precautions and doubled the 
pickets, all of which had a tendency to augment the excite- 
ment. All that could be extracted from any of the coolest 
headed of the citizens was, that a suspicious lookmg character 
had been skulking about through the country, and that he had 
stopped at the farmhouses and warned the people of the 
dangerous proximity of the rebels. All the stories differed, 
but one fact was noticeable, and that was to the effect that the 
description of the suspicious person was about the same in 
every instance. The mention of a pair of new blue over-alls 
conjured in the Colonel's mind the image of ' Lazy Jim FryCo' 



CAMP-FIRE CHATS OF THE CIVIL WAR. 209 

" Shortly before nightfall, unlucky Jim put in his appear- 
ance. He looked most 'sesthetically weary,' and his new blue 
over-alls were spattered with mud by his long and tiresome 
tramp; moreover, it needed no second glance at his habili- 
ments and accoutrements to make sure that they were identi- 
cal with those worn by the often described individual who 
had been the cause of the present alarm. A new light 
dawned upon the Colonel's mind. He ordered Jim to be put 
under arrest and brought before him. The farmer who had 
furnished Jim the * cold bite' identified him as the self-avowed 
rebel who had frightened him and his family by his story 
about the rebels, and numerous others said that he was the 
same man whom they had seen in the woods. 

"Jim, seeing that he was in for it, confessed the truth, and 
told the whole story. 

"At 9 o'clock the detachment of cavalry sent out to 
reconnoiter, returned and reported the country quiet for 
miles around. The citizens, being assured there was no 
danger, soon wended their way to their respective homes, 
and by midnight order and quiet was obtained. 

"And Jim! Well, Jim's trouble had just fairly begun. 
Colonel Brown was too vexed over the affair to allow the 
offense to pass unpunished, but bless you, you could never 
guess the manner of punishment! It was this: Every day 
for ten consecutive days, at dress parade, Jim was marched out, 
accompanied by fife and drum, and after being assisted to mount 
to his shoulder a hod full of bricks, he was required to carry it 
up and down before the line of men six times. Jim was an 
overly modest chap at the best, and to be so made the cyno- 
sure of all eyes was too much for him, and being born chron- 
ically tired, too, he was fearfully cut up about it. 

" Even at this late day I can see poor old Jim's abashed 
countenance, red and streaming with perspiration as he car- 
ried his heavy load up and down, keeping step to the inspir- 
H 



210 CAMP-FIRE CHATS OF THE CIVIL WAR. 

ing strains of the fife and beats of the drum, and I can ahnost 
hear the banter of his comrades and the laughter with 
which they assailed his ears. 

"'There's nothing like serving yer country, old feller! ' a 
rollicking friend would call out. 

"'Well, 'taint all honey an' pie, mebbe, but Lordy, the 
glory of it! ' Jim would reply, and so it went, day after (ia\', 
until his time was out." 

" That's one of the ways to punish a fellow that we had 
too, comrade Oliver," said one, who sat on the other side of 
the fire, " but its' nothing to being ' bucked and gagged ' for 
taking a snooze while on duty, I can tell you!" 

" By the by," said another veteran, "one of the most heart- 
touching incidents that occurred during my army life hap- 
pened with a little drummer boy. There had been some sharp 
fighting and General McPherson, among others, had been 
killed. We had been hurried to the field expecting to take part 
in a great battle, but we didn't arrive in time to do much work, 
and in an hour or two we were ordered back to camp. 
While on our way, the captain and I turned off to visit an 
improvised field hospital which stood among some trees. 

" We saw a great many of our boys who were wounded, 
and among them was a little drummer boy who had been in 
the fight and had had his leg amputated just above the knee. 
The chaplain dismounted, and expressed to him his sympathy 
for the loss of his leg, and tried to soothe the little fellow's 
feelings, as he was crying bitterly. In reply, the little hero 
sobbed out: 

" ' Oh ! It isn't that — that's nothing — I — I — don't — I don't 
care so much about that — they got our flag ! that's what 
hurts mey 

As the last words of the speaker fell upon his hearers 
a quiet pervaded the circle about the fire, and more than one 
eye glistened with unshed tears, as the full force and power 



CAMP-FIRE CHATS OF THE CIVIL WAR. 211 

of the incident made its way into the hearts of those who 
heard its narration. It seemed as though a breath from the 
past had whispered into each ear a vivid recital of the fiendish 
carnage and brutal cruelty that, like a whirlwind from the 
innermost regions of hell, swept over our fair land; and eacli 
one held his peace and seemed conning the pages of memory 
where, inscribed in characters dimmed b}^ the blotting fingcis 
of time, were many a tale of bitterest suffering and keenest 
anguish — many an incident wherein the heroism, that only 
the love of country can excite, had figured in bold relief. 

The silence, however, was soon broken by a battle- 
scarred individual who carried a musket throughout the en- 
tire " unpleasantness." He said, " The only time I saw Gen- 
eral Sherman was after we had failed to break Joe Johnson's 
front at Kenesaw Mountain. It was plain that more flanking 
must be done, so the ' Great Flanker ' ordered General Cox's 
division of the 23d Corps to make a detour and threaten the 
enemy's left. 

" This involved a long march, and General Sherman made 
his way to the top of a high hill, where we were lying, to en- 
able him to overlook the country and see operations better. He 
sat on a stump with a map spread out on his knees, and was 
giving General Cox directions as to his line of march. After 
doing this, he mounted his horse and started away, but after 
having gone away a little distance he shouted back, ' See 
here, Cox, burn a few barns occasionally, as you go along. 
I can't understand those signal flags, but I know what smoke 




CAMP-FIRE XVIIL 

MANY WERE CALLED, BUT ONE WAS CHOSEN — A SAD OC- 
CURRENCE — " LET THE DEAD AND THE BEAUTIFUL 



.ISSOLUTION of the sacred ties of the family, the 
severe cutting apart of those tender affections which 
bind the child to the parent, and t' ' life of woe and in- 
satiable sorrow which follow, are among the almost insuffer- 
able results of the fierce cruelty of war. These results, too, 
endure, notwithstanding the benefits they may have, and their 
constancy does not cease when soulless governments make 
peace at the close of years of military operations. The sad 
effects are felt in, alas! too many American homes, even at 
the present time — now! twenty years since the war! Twenty 
summers have shed their glowing warmth over the old 
battle-fields! twenty autumns have shifted their melancholy 
smoke and sunshine above the sacred cemeteries! twenty 
winters, with their chilling snows and rains, have iced the tree 
boughs that droop over far away graves! twenty springs, with 
their cheering bird-calls, have spread their smiling floral cover- 
ing, like Charity's peaceful mantle, over all the wide country 
where the campaigning was; and yet the heart strings then 
broken will remain unstrung until the soothing hand of death 
shall softly entwine them for all time. 

The verification of this can be multiplied many times; but 
only one specification need be made here — an incident by Dr. 
A. Hard: 

" The battle of Williamsburg, Va., was fought May 5, 

212 



CAMP-FIRE CHATS OF THE CIVIL WAR. 213 

1862. It was the first great battle In which our regiment 
(the 8th Illinois Cavalry) participated, and as we had never 
seen any engagement much heavier than a skirmish, of course 
we were very curious to observe the battle carefully, and also 
to go over the battle-field after the fight, and witness the deso- 
lation wrought. In going over the field an incident occurred 
which was of such touching interest that I, for my part, never 
tire of remembering it as among the pathetic incidents of the 
war. 

" A Massachusetts chaplain who had just arrived was 
among the ones most anxious to go over the field, and in 
company with our chaplain. Reverend Matlock, soon reached 
the place where the dead were being arranged in rows for 
burial. 

" A detail of soldiers were bringing the dead from the 
woods and * slashings,' and laying them side by side to re- 
ceive the last sad rite. Other soldiers were identifying and 
marking them by pinning a card or slip of paper on the 
breast of each corpse, while still others were digging the 
long trench in which to place the bodies that were to be 
covered from sight forever. 

« The Massachusetts chaplain informed Mr. Matlock that 
upon leaving home he had promised Mrs. Benson, a widow 
lady, that he would look after her boy, Willie, an only son, 
beloved by a Christian mother and anxious friends, who were 
awaiting some tidings of his safety. 

" ' Can you tell me where I can find such a boy? ' asked 
the Chaplain, after describing him. 

"' What is his regiment?' asked Mr. Matlock in return. 

" ' I haven't been able to find out,' responded the Chaplain. 

" ' Perhaps the regiment you seek is burying the dead 
yonder,' suggested Mr. Matlock, knowing that it was a 
Massachusetts regiment then performing that office. 

"The chaplain was now in a very trying position. He 



2 14 CAMP-FIRE CHATS OF THE CIVIL WAR. 

hardly dared introduce the subject to the soldiers through 
fear that Willie had indeed met with some misfortune; but 
mustering courage, he asked of one soldier: 

" * Was your regiment engaged in the fight?' 

"*No,'wasthe gratifying intelligence received in reply; 
' we came upon the field just as the battle closed.' 

" « Well,' said he, ' I have promised a widow lady to look 
after her boy, her only support, and the comfort and the pride 
of her life. I almost feared to ask about him ; but knowing 
that you have not been in the battle gives me relief and more 
grace to inquire further.' 

" * Oh, we had just a little brush with the Johnnies,' re- 
turned the soldier. 

" ' The true presentiment came upon the Chaplain like a 
flash. He was a strong man and could bravely face the life- 
destroying' fire of the enemy, and call it almost welcome 
when compared with the severe trial through v/hich he must 
soon pass. He turned deathly pale as the soldier spoke, and 
it required a manly struggle to control his feelings. The 
knowledge that he must meet the anxious, waiting mother 
with sad news, was very vivid. How like a thunderbolt it 
would pierce her heart with a wound that could not be 
healed ! 

'* As the Chaplain hesitated for a moment he attracted the 
attention of the by-standing comrades, who were also visibly 
affected ; and as his cheeks flushed, and the tears glistened in 
his eyes, he inquired : 

" ' Then can you give me any information of Willie Ben- 
son? That was his name.' 

" ' Willie Benson ? Yes. We have just buried Willie Ben- 
son; he was the only one of our regiment who was killed or 
injured! ' " 

For a reason which needs no interpreting, the chats sud- 
denly ceased, after the above incident had been related; and 



CAMP-FIRE CHATS OF THE CIVIL WAR. 215 

all was quiet for several minutes, until a comrade from Com- 
pany F, of the 78th New York, told this: 

"The last incident has reminded me of one that occurred 
at the battle of Peach Tree Creek, July 19 and 30, 1864. 
Our regiment was in the fight, and about half an hour before 
the close of the firing a shot pierced the breast of J. W. 
Gould, one of my companions, and he fell, breathing his last 
in a few minutes. He had been a favorite, and of course we 
could not retreat or leave the spot until we had given him a 
fitting burial. So three of the boys and myselt assumed the 
sad duty. 

" We carried him to the bank of the stream, laid his 
body upon the grass, and dug him a neat grave. When 
all was ready a prayer was said, we lowered his body and 
shoveled in the earth. Then we placed a cypress board 
at the head and planted a weeping willow over the grave; 
and when this last rite was performed, we departed, after 
singing: 

" * Let the dead and the beautiful rest ; 

Make his grave 'neath the willow by the stream, 
Where the wind-harps shall whisper o'er the blest, 
Like the song of some angel in our dream. 

" Oh, so young and fair, 
With his bright golden hair, 
Let him sleep, let him sleep; 
Let him sleep 'neath the willow by the stream.* " 




CAMP-FIRE XIX. 

A REMINISCENCE OF GENERAL NELSON — A SHAM BATTLE 
DEMOLISHES A SUTLEr's STORE. 

aRIGADIER-GENERAL I. C. B. SUMAN related 
ail experience at this camp-fire which includes a rem- 
iniscence of General Nelson that well illustrates the 
private soldier's appreciation of the difference between the 
officer educated at West Point and the self-made commander 
of volunteers. Said he: 

" I recollect an experience which may be of some use to 
the Society for the Preservation of Unpublished History. At 
the time of which I speak I was Lieutenant-Colonel of the 
9th Indiana Infantry, a regiment as reliable, brave and prompt 
as was ever inustered into service. 

" We had just come from the mountains of East Tennes- 
see with the rest of the brigade, — the other regiments being the 
6th and the 41st Ohio, — which was commanded by General 
Nelson. 

" The General had left the navy to take command of this 
brigade; and, technically speaking, he was well fitted for his 
office, being thoroughly versed in military tactics, and he also 
had other qualifications. He was tall, handsome, with black 
moustache and beard, would weigh three hundred pounds; 
had a keen eye, and prided himself on his military bearing. 
Moreover, he was well educated, could speak seven diffi^rent 
languages; but withal, he was arrogant, and especially over- 

ii6 



CAMP-FIRE CHATS OF THE CIVIL WAR. 217 

bearing when he was in liquor. He forgot, like many another 
officer in the Civil War, that he was commanding Ameri- 
cans j that his soldiers had volunteered to cast their lives into 
the balance, that the nation might be saved ; that he was 
ordering around men who could think as well as himself, 
and that these men could not be lorded over like the regular 
soldiers who were compelled to serve out a certain term 
of enlistment. 

" General Nelson was right in his purpose to enforce 
strictly the rules of war, but he often did it at the cost of re- 
spect from those who were to win his laurels for him. No 
doubt it made him angry to see the volunteer soldiers have so 
many privileges, but instead of submitting with at least an 
apparent good will, he attempted to ignore these by the 
strictest discipline. 

" Yet he had his favorites, even in companies and regi- 
ments. He dressed well himself, prided himself somewhat 
on his fine personal appearance, and naturally had more ad- 
miration for those of the soldiers who kept themselves neat 
than those who were ragged from hard fighting and rough 
experience. It must not be understood that we do not like 
to see soldiers dress well (or anybody else, for that matter), 
but when cannon balls are cutting men down by the scores, and 
bullets are clipping off an ear here and a linger there, or break- 
ing a bone in some other place, it is no time for a display of 
silks and satins. 

"The 6th Ohio boys dressed well, and they were good fight- 
ers, too; but their good clothes had been furnished in part by 
contributions from their officers' pockets. It was not possible for 
all officers to do this, on account of not all having large bank 
accounts; and we did think that, after we had done our best 
and bravest on the field of battle, it was a little hard to be 
the subjects of untimely remarks because of our clothin^^, 
which we could not make better in any degree. 



2l8 CAMP-FIRE CHATS OF THE CIVIL WAR, 

" We had no enmity toward the 6th Ohio boys, and they 
appreciated this; but when the superior officers would dis- 
criminate against us because we could not make as much dis- 
pla}-- on dress parade, we thought it a little unjust." 

General Suman was requested to go into detail somewhat, 
in order that the object of the incident might not be misun- 
derstood; that it might be exemplary rather than personal. 

" Well, to return, our regiment had just come from the 
mountains of East Tennessee, and indeed, were a pretty rough 
looking lot. In accurate observance of the laws of war, how- 
ever. General Nelson prohibited all petty foraging for subsist- 
ence. So I told the boys to be cautious about violating the Gen- 
eral's orders, but that they might steal all the chickens they 
could find, so long as they did not get caught at it, and you may 
know that my permission was more literally observed than 
were the General's orders, because hungry soldiers must be 
fed. I believed like Napoleon, that the quickest way to con- 
quer the enemy was to live off of them, and the boys heartily 
agreed with me, because this was the most satisfactory and 
most practical. 

" Nevertheless, the boys were conscientious, even though 
they were soldiers. It is not necessary for one to lay down 
his manhood when he takes up the dress and arms of war; 
and this sentiment was never better illustrated than in our 
Civil War. But for some reason the graduates of the mili- 
tary academy failed to appreciate this fact. General Nelson 
among the rest. He could hardly be taken as an accurate 
type of this class of officers, yet withal, his course of action, in 
many respects, made him a good illustration. One particular, 
however, is certain. General Nelson imposed a very severe 
discipline which was probably the result of his college train- 
ing. But his object may have been to force his subordinates 
into winning greater laurels for himself. In this it would 
seem that he was ambitious, and that he forgot to pat men on 



CAMP-FIRE CHATS OF THE CIVIL WAR. 219 

the back instead of in the face. Although from the navy, he 
failed to realize that 

Ambition is a fearful ship to figiit with; 

It tosses man's imagination up 

To the shakv pinnacle of his desires; 

Then lets him fall a flat, insipid thing, 

With only lax, low spirits in his frame. 

It takes away his sleep ; it both consumes 

And quickens youthful hearts, which thus grow good, 

Then great. 

But still Ambition yields at times, 
And in that weakness is God-given; for. 
When Judgment's captain, and Obedience 
The helmsman, then Ambition is compelled 
To take that safe, though unsailed stream which flows 
In triumph through the ocean of the world — 
Clear of the rocks and reefs of circumstance. 
Then, with a virtuous, well -trained crew, 
She may at will seek her desired harbor. 

" Also, General Nelson was very watchful to be sure that 
his orders were always carried out. Yet one incident oc- 
curred concerning which he took the wrong position. As 
we were marching by a farmhouse, about 4 o'clock one 
afternoon, two of the boys suddenly concluded to have chicken 
for supper that night, as there were a large number of fine 
ones in the barn-yard. The boys remembered my permission, 
and also remembered the caution about the General's orders. 
Hence they thought it best to buy the chickens this time, pro- 
vided they could succeed in making the proper kind of bargain. 

" Leaving the ranks, they approached the house and in- 
quired of the lady who met them at the door: 

" ' Have you any chickens for sale.^ ' 

" The woman happened to be of Southern sj^mpathy, and 
of course very radical; so she replied: 

"*No! I don'c sell no chickens to Yankees.' 

" ' Wait till Yankees try to buy 'em, madam,' returned 



220 CAMP-FIRE CHATS OF THE CIVIL WAR. 

one of the boys; ' we simply wanted to know whether you 
wished to sell a few of your fowls.' 

"'No! I don't sell no chickens to Yankees,' repeated the 
woman. 

" Knowing that coffee was scarce, the soldier concluded 
to tempt the lady with some real genuine coffee in a trade. 
Hence he ventured: 

"' Well, madam, how will you trade us some chickens for 
Lincoln coffee?'" 

'< ' D-o-n-'t know,' she replied slowly, with a remarkable 
change of temper visible on her countenance. 

" ' We will give you two pounds of coffee for two chicken^,' 
said the soldier. 

" ' I'll do 't if you'll give me three pounds,' replied she. 

"'No, we can't do it; we have only two pounds with us.' 

" ' I'll do it fur three pounds,' she still insisted. 

"'All right; we'll give you three pounds if you'll come 
down to the sutler's about 8 o'clock this evening,' he 
agreed, thinking that would be an effectual stop to any fur- 
ther parley. 

"''Nuffsaid — the trade's done made. Whar'll I come?' 

" This occurred about 4 o'clock in the afternoon, and 
knowing that the column would soon go into camp, the soldier 
answered : 

" ' We will probably go into camp in a short time, not 
more than a mile or two farther on; and when you come 
^lown inquire for the sutler of the 9th Indiana Infaniry. 
vV^e will pay him for the other pound of coffee, so that 
: will be ready for you;' and with the last remark the 
toys took their leave and departed on their way. 

" Prompted by a desire to make sure of her due, the lady 
came into camp some half hour or more before the appointed 
time — sometimes it happens that suspicion and distrust pre- 
clude honesty. So it was in this case. Hence the fear that 



CAMP-FIRE CHATS OP THE CIVIL WAR. 221 

she would not get her coffee made the lady very nervous; and 
after finding the sutler's place she concluded to satisfy her 
eagerness by demanding the coffee at once. 

" The soldiers were delayed and did not get into camp as 
early as they expected, the result of which was that the sutler 
knew nothing of their agreement to have the pound of coffee 
delivered to the woman. Of course his stinginess would not 
allow him to part with a pound of his goods on any assurance 
that the woman could give, so that great disappointment 
took the place of her great expectations, which could not have 
been otherwise from hasty action; and she was so enraged 
by this state of affairs that she at once sought headquarters 
to have the soldiers arrested. 

" The affair was reported to General Nelson, who was 
equally enraged at finding his orders apparently so grossly 
disregarded. He ordered the immediate arrest of the soldiers, 
who were soon found and brought before him. They were 
not allowed time to carry out their part of the agreement, or 
even to make restoration ; but were then and there subjected 
to the discipline, being strung up by the thumbs. 

** The general then sent for me, as the soldiers belonged to 
my regiment. He held me responsible for the disobedience, 
but I determined to have a fair hearing, so that when he 
informed me that the soldiers had been tied up by the 
thumbs, I at once protested, 

"' I insist on their punishment,' said he, * because my orders 
must he obeyed^ 

"* i think there is some mistake. General,' 1 replied, ' and 
will presume to suggest that the boys be turned loose until we 
can inquire into the matter, at least,' 

" ' I insist that my orders shall be obeyed,' he returned. 

« I Very well,' said I; 'but it will not do to forget that you 
are commanding volunteers, and I beg to warn you that it 
will be better for all concerned in this matter, if you release 
the soHiers at once,' 



222 CAMP-FIRE CHATS OF THE CIVIL WAR. 

"But he would not, in his condition of mind at that time^ 
consent to any concessions. I returned to my tent. It v/as 
not long before the situation of affairs was understood b} 
nearly all the boys in the regiment, who were much irritated. 
They determined upon the release of their comrades, and it 
did not require much time for the practical demonstration of 
their wishes. A number of them quietly gathered near the 
general's tent, and each prepared to assist in requiring redress. 
One of the boys ascertained the general's exact position 
and reported to the rest immediately. He found that the 
general was lying down, so that a volley discharged at the top 
of the tent would do no damage to his person. 

"To think was to act. The volley was discharged; and 
the boys were not careful to aim precisely at the extreme top 
part of the tent. As soon as the general comprehended the 
situation, to do which required no great extension of chro- 
nology, he cautiously slipped away. 

" Not long afrer his departure three or four bullets pierced 
the tent at various points three or four feet from the ground ; 
but as soon as it was found that the general had virtually sur- 
rendered, the firing ceased. Some explanations and retractions 
were made, after which the accustomed pomp and dignity of 
camp prevailed. The soldiers were unstrung ' as to their 
thumbs,' and were allowed to fulfill their agreement with the 
female poultry vender, who went joyfully homeward with her 
pound of coffee. 

" We marched on to the field of Shiloh, where we arrived 
in time to be almost, if not quite, the first participants. The 
battle commenced eariy on the bright Sunday morning of 
April 6, 1862 — a day too calm and bright, after the previous 
few days of very inclement weather, to be desecrated by the 
harsh sounds of war. But the armies did not stop for what 
they considered sentimentalism. The Johnnies came pouring 
right down upon us before we had been given time to make 



534 CAMP-FIRE CHATS OF THE CIVIL WAR. 

our toilets, which consisted principally of shouldering arms. 

** My regiment was in the front, and my original company, 
numbering sixty-three, were thrown still further forward as 
skirmishers. The first sharp contest had ended, and many of 
the boys lay around us wounded, dying and dead. Then the 
enemy came on again. We stood our ground. The 41st 
Ohio regiment was in our rear, and the 6th Ohio to our left. 
The shells were flying thick and fast, and the explosions were 
frequent. Things in front looked discouraging. But our 
boys had no thought of retreating, although the shrapnel shot 
would plow through us, creating real terror, and bursting 
among the 41st Ohio boys. Of course this compelled them 
to retreat, which left us without support. 

" It was now only 8 o'clock in the morning, but the 
mortality in our regiment had been fearful. Thirty-four out 
of sixty in my old company had been killed. But the boys 
were still firm, staring death in the face. In this situation, 
General Nelson came riding by. He saw the boys standing 
like trees — some fallen, some shattered, some untouched and 
immovable; and he could also see the desperate expression on 
their countenances. Ordinarily this would have stimulated 
the general to anger; but this time he could do nothing more 
than admire the firmness of the boys who plainly showed an 
almost uncontrollable hatred for him. But the general pur- 
sued a diflferent course from harshness. His heart seemed 
deeply touched, and, as the old man passed on down the line, 
the tears trickled down his cheek as he spoke: 

«'Ah! volunteers are the men to fight after all. Believe 
me, m}^ brave boys, I bear you no ill will.' 

"' Three cheers for General Nelson!' called out the boys, 
after saluting him ; and the chorus that went up was sufficient 
evidence that the general had been forgiven. 

"'Hear! hear!' responded the general when he thought 
they had cheered sufficiently. ' I shall give the 9th Indiana 



CAMP-FIRE CHATS OF THE CIVIL WAR. 225 

as fine colors as any regiment ever had. I do this in order 
that your people at home may know of my good feeling for 
you, and that history may record this affair.' 

" And true to promise," concluded General Suman, " after 
General Nelson's death. General Crittenden presented us our 
tiag in behalf of General Nelson and the State of Kentucky." 

" While listening to the previous narrative I was reminded 
of the funniest incident that came under my observation dur- 
ing the March to the Sea," said George EUers, 1 1 3th Ohio 
Infantry. 

"We will be delighted to have you relate the story," said 
one of the S. P U. H. 

" It was this," said comrade Ellers. " There had been a 
sutler following our brigade for some two or three months, 
and he was one of the most disagreeable men in camp. He 
used every artifice to take advantage of the boys, and never 
allowed an opportunity to escape by means of which he could 
rob them of their money. It was just after tlie battle of 
Goldsboro, back of Kenesaw Mountain, while we were in 
camp, that a plan was concocted to prevent the odious sutler 
from doing further mischief. The scheme was to have a 
sham battle, and in the melee stampede over his tent. 
Accordingly the 98th and 121st Ohio regiments were formed 
in line as adversaries near by the sutler's tent, and the rest of 
the brigade stood near at hand as spectators. After all was 
in readiness the 121st charged the 98th, and drove them back; 
then the 98th sallied and pressed their adve; aries to their for- 
mer position, after which the 98th reformed directly in front 
of the sutler's tent. Immediately the 121st charged again, 
and came down on the 98th like a whirlwind, all of them 
yelling like demons. The 98th broke and fell back, and as 
the laughing, yelling, howling mass swept along, some of the 
boys cut the ropes of the tent and in a trice the sutler's stock 
was scattered over half an acre of ground. Every man who 
15 



220 CAMP-FIRE CHATS OF THE CIVIL WAR. 

could grabbed some article and made way with it, and in 
less time than it takes to tell it, over $3,000 worth of 
goods had vanished into the oblivion of haversacks and other 
secret places. 

" The sutler fought like a wild-cat to save his property. 
He seized a cheese-knife and made savage attempts to mutilate 
some of the boys, but they were too many for him. They 
disarmed him, and pushed him about and fell on him so inces- 
santly that he had no time to find another weapon, and when 
he came to himself he was five hundred yards from the site of 
his now ruined store, 

" The shout of laughter and merriment that went up as 
the joke dawned upon the spectators, created a perfect bed- 
lam. Everybody enjoyed the fun, and the boys of the 98th 
and i2ist were richer by some thousands in the way of com- 
modities and camp luxuries. 

" The result of the sport was that a search was ordered 
from headquarters for the stolen goods, but not a dollar's 
worth was returned to the discomfited sutler. I never saw 
as much/un crowded into five minutes in my life, and many a 
time have I laughed over that day's sport with some comrade 
who participated in the charge upon our sutler. 

" While I have the ' floor,' " continue 1 comrade Ellers, 
"let me tell you a little anecdote of Capt. Chas. P. Gorman, 
of Co. A, and I will have done." 

" All right," we exclaimed, and settled back into .» om- 
fbrtable position, and lighted a Key West with a burnin^Lj 
brand from the fire. 

" We were before Kenesaw Mountain," went on comrade 
Ellers, "and were on a charge against the enemy across an open 
field. The fire of musketry was sharp, and the bullets were 
whistling among us as thick and fast as raindrops. The boys 
were dropping, and the line was fast becoming broken. The 
situation was desperate. The field was fully a half mile in 



CAMP-FIRE CHATS OF THE CIVIL WAR. 227 

width and the chances of reaching the other side were decid- 
edly against us. 

" Captain Gorman was a German and as brave a man 
as there was in the army. His fund of humor was inexhaust- 
ible, and everybody in the company liked him. 

"Just at the moment when the line faltered and was 
;ibout to fall back, the captain shouted: 

' ' Vich vould you rather do or pe in yer Taddy's haymow, 
poys?' 

« In an instant the humor of the remark was caught, and 
the self-possession of the boys returned, and with a hurrah the 
line rushed on until it occupied the position to which it had 
been ordered." 

Another veteran, upon whose face the light of the flames 
fell in a pleasing way, remarked: 

« I was told the following by General Scofield while we 
were on our way from Wilmington to Beaufort : ' A few 
days after our troops had taken possession of Wilmington, a 
large, good-looking negro made his way into my headquar- 
ters one morning, and asked: 

"'Is you de irin'ral of dese people, sah? 

"'Yes,' I replied. 

" ' Is you de biggest ginral dat is heah, sah? ' 

"'Yes, I think so,' I answered, 'what do you wish?' 

" ' Well sah,' continued my sable inquisitor, ' when we 
black people hearn dat de Yankees v/as a comin', we knowed 
dey'd be a big racket, an' me an' de rest of us moved into de 
swamps, sah, an' dere dey all is, sah, 'bout fo' or five hundred 
of 'em. An' we hearn dat de Yankees had done tuk Wil- 
mington, an' dat de ole flag was up! 

"' We's mighty anxshus to know de troof an' I'se come in 
sah, to find out whether it^s so, an' if it is so, an' you had come 
to stay, den I've to fiah a joy gun, sah! ' 

"'Well, we've taken Wilmington, Sambo, and the old 



228 



CAMP-FIRE CHATS OF THE CIVIL WAR. 



flag is up,' said I, ' and we have come to stay too, but what's 
that about a joy gun?' 

" ' Why, sah,' continued the negro, ' if eberything was 
all right an' de ole flag is up, den I was to fiah a joy gun, an' 
dey'd know all about it out in de swamps, sah, an den dey'J 
come in!' 

" ' I think I understand you now,' said I, ' and I will have 
^ joy gun fired.' 

" ' So I went up to the fortifications and had one of the 
largest guns fired, and in the course of the afternoon, in came 
a great crowd of contrabands from the swamps, and every 
mother's son and daughter of them were shouting: 

"' Glory! — glory I de ole flag is up — de ole flag is up!'" 




i 



CAMP-FIRE XX. 

" WHEN THIS CRUEL WAR IS OVER " A CONTINUATION OF 

CAMP-FIRE XVIII A " MULEY " YOKE OF " MULEY " 

OXEN. 

tAST evening but one," began Governor G., " the in- 
cidents of the camp-fire reminded me of a touching ex- 
perience of which I omitted to speak at the time, but 
with permission, will give it now." 

" Let us hear it," called out the commander. 

" Well, to begin, I knew Dr. Hard, who related the occur- 
rence, at the battle of Williamsburg. He was in our regiment, 
the 8th Illinois cavalry — which was the first to enter the 
village of Gettysburg, on the day previous to the first day's 
battle. 

" The cavalry were always far ahead of the infantry, doing 
the advance skirmishing, and this time our regiment was in 
the extreme front. We were going into Gettysburg, and as 
we came nearer to the center of the town we could see the 
rebel cavalry receding. Many of them were yet scattered 
miscellaneously about the streets, but all were clearing them- 
selves from the vicinity. 

" We rode on, and as we passed the stores and shops we 
were greeted with a warm welcome on every hand. Women 
and children, and men and boys who were ineligible for 
soldiership, lined the streets and assured us of their most heart- 
felt joy, for we were the first Union soldiers they had seen 
for some time. 

** Our attention was attracted to a number of school-girls 

229 



^3o caMp-fire chats of the civil war. 

who apparently had just come together. There were per- 
haps fifteen or twenty of them, of ages ranging from ten to 
fifteen years. Many of them were beautiful, and all were 
good singers. It seemed to me as though they made not the 
least discord, and that the sweetest music I ever heard came 
from their lips as they sang — the first time we had ever 
heard the song: 

" ' Dearest love, do you remember, 

When we last did meet, 
How you told me that you loved me, 

Kneeling at my feet? 
Oh! how proud you stood before me. 

In your suit of blue, 
When you vowed to me and country 

Ever to be true. 

CHORUS. 

"* Weeping sad and lonely, 

Hopes and fears how vain! 
When this cruel war is over. 

Praying that we meet again!' 

" After passing through the city and going into camp, many 
of us returned again to the pleasing surroundings. The 
citizens threw open their houses and invited us in to enjoy the 
full privilege of their homes. On every hand we were met 
with the most cordial reception. Merchants would not even 
take pay for articles of limited value after we had bought 
them. Every one seemed heartily glad to assist the bold 
defenders of the Stars and Stripes. 

" Indeed we appreciated this, for we had been deprived 
for a long time of many of the comforts of civilized life, and 
at times had wanted the necessities, not to say the deli- 
cacies; so that the enjoyment of all these, coupled with the 
earnest way in which we were received, could not fail to draw 
from us expressions of unalloyed gratitude. We felt that 
even in the midst of war there is tenderness; that, however 



CAMP-FIRE CHATS OF THE CIVIL WAR. 23I 

fierce the battle may be, the heart which receives the blow 
and the one which gives it, may then or at any other time 
be the home of affection. 

" Gratitude brought a tear to my own eye, and as I looked 
around to see the expression of other countenances, I beheld at 
my side an old, wicked, gray-haired man weeping from very 
joy — a man whose heart 1 had long since concluded had never 
held many feelings except those kindred to cruelty. This 
was only the day before the great battle, but I can tell you 
that even this short relief was welcome." 

" Let me add another incident to those already given 
about Sherman's famous march," said Mr. C. E. Harden, ad- 
dressing the commander. 

" Proceed," responded His Dignity, and Mr. Harden did 
proceed thus: 

" In the first place," said he, " the country through which 
we were passing produced only two staple commodities, to- 
wit: Bull-frogs and bad roads, the two being in almost equal 
abundance. There were also two other things similar in the 
purpose of holding food, namely, our stomachs and haver- 
sacks; and at tliis particular time they were exactly alike in 
one other respect — both were empty. Sometimes a man's 
appetite suggests a very sudden conclusion about going to 
work to obtain something eatable; and this was our exact 
condition. So comrade John Chandler and myself at once 
determined ' to see what we could see ' in the way of 
forage. 

" We left camp at day-break, and knowing the route which 
the column would take, kept well to the right. We tramped 
all day, and at night had succeeded in becoming the possessors 
of the following: 

" One cart with one broken wheel. - 

"One and one-quarter bushels of potatoes; size of same, 
3^ to ^ inches in diameter. 



232 CAMP-FIRE CHATS OF THE CIVIL WAR. 

" One yoke of ' muley ' oxen. 

" One ox was red ; the other brindle. One had lost its 
tail. The red ox, being the afflicted one, seemed to be 
favored by nature with a very small horn on the left side of 
its head, so that it was not entirely 'muley;' while on the 
other hand, brindle having no claim to a like favor from 
nature, had no horn, and was, tlierefore, entirely ' muley.' 

" It was an odd-looking team ; but we concluded to try its 
strength for a few miles, so we loaded our potatoes and con- 
tinued our journey. The second day added the following to 
our store: 

" I. One rooster too old to crow. 

" 2. One-half bushel wilted turnips. 

" Late in the afternoon we began to hunt our command, 
and about sunset came to the road that the division had 
passed over, but found no other signs of a soldier. A short 
' council of war ' was held, after which the line of march was 
taken up and continued until daylight, when we came to a halt, 
fed the rooster and the oxen, and breakfasted ourselves on the 
'pig-potatoes ' and turnips. After a short rest we again pro- 
ceeded, arriving in camp about 4 o'clock in the afternoon. 

" As we approached, the cheering resembled the prolonged 
chirrup from an excited flock of geese. All kinds of exclama- 
tions were heard: 

"'Hurrah for the muleys!' 

'"Kill 'em! Kill 'em!' 

"' Beefsteak for supper, boys!' 

"'Give us some ox-tail soup!' 

" ' Old brindle's horns for powder flasks!' etc., etc. 

" When the noise subsided, the commissary sergeant 
ordered us to report at headquarters with our team. We did 
this, received a reprimand for being absent from our com- 
mand, and our oxen were inspected, and ordered slaughtered 
for the good of the regiment. 



CAMP-FIRE CHATS OF THE CIVIL WAR. 



233 



*« Within fifteen minutes from that time the odor from 
fresh, tough beef emanated from numerous frying pans, and 
ascended to the evening sky; and in perhaps thirty minutes 
more no reminder of the oxen's sad fate could be seen, except 
the iron work of the wagon, the wood having been appro- 
priated to replenish the various camn-fires." 




CAMP-FIRE XXI. 

THE GRAND ARMY OF THE REPUBLIC— NOT A POLITICAL OR- 
GANIZATION ITS principles: fraternity, CHARITY, 

LOYALTY A COMPLETE, BRIEF RECORD OF ITS OR- 
GANIZATION AND GROWTH TO THE PRESENT TIME. 

fHIS camp-fire was devoted to delineating the practical 
part of those magnificent memories which have resulted 
so happily from the comradeship which was begotten 
and made strong by the battles of the Civil War, Dr. A. W. 
Gray was the speaker, and said: 

" At no time in the history of the world has there been 
an organization of such magnitude as this; which had such 
sudden growth and notoriety, and yet of which so little is 
known. As far as known there are no official records of any 
connected history of its origin, rise and progress. 

" It is not strange that men who, for many weary months 
and years had shared the perils and fatigues, the weary 
marches and bivouacks of a soldier's life, —who together had 
breasted the storms of shot and shell, and shared the priva- 
tion, suffering and hunger of the prison-pen — should desire to 
keep alive the memories and associations of their army life. 
History informs us that after great wars it has been in all 
ages customary for the surviving soldiers to form associations 
to preserve the memories of other days. We hear in our day 
of the associations of veterans of the Crimean war and of the 
French and German war; and in our own country of the 
* Order of the Cincinnati,' an organization of commissioned 

234 



. CAMP-FIRE CHATS OF THE CIVIL WAR. 235 

officers of the American army who fought for national liberty 
during the Revolution, the organization to be perpetuated b}? 
the admission of the oldest sons of its members as the origi- 
nators successively died. We have also the veteran associations 
of the war of i8i3, and the war with Mexico; but none can 
compare with the G. A. R., whose posts may be found from 
the Atlantic to the Pacific, and from the St. Lawrence to the 
Gulf of Mexico. 

" As to who first originated the ' Grand Army of the Re- 
public,' no one man is entitled to the credit. There was 
nothing original in it. It had always been customary for sur- 
viving soldiers to organize, and for a long time many of the 
old soldiers had talked the matter over. The war was over. 
A 77iillion men — veterans of the greatest war of modern 
times — had stacked their arms, sheathed their swords, and re- 
turned to their homes and the pursuits of a civil life. What 
more natural than that these old comrades should enjoy each 
other's society, and should wish to preserve the ' memories of 
those hours of trial and danger' by banding themselves to- 
gether, and talking over the old times.? 

"Although not a matter of record, it is an admitted fact 
that the State of Illinois has the honor of the G. A. R.'s birth- 
place; and that B. F. Stephenson, late surgeon of the i^tn 
Illinois Infantry, was the first man to organize the veterans 
into an association. During the winter of 1865 and 1866, he, 
with other ex-soldiers of the late war, being at the time in the 
City of Springfield, Illinois, discussed the propriety of or- 
ganizing the 'veteran' soldiers of the State into an associa- 
tion for political 'purposes — his idea being that the soldiers, 
having saved the country, were entitled of right to the oflSces 
of profit and trust. It was decided to form such an organiza- 
tion; that it should be a secret society, with signs, grips and 
password. The individuals present took an oath of secrecy. 
A ritual was prepared and adopted; also an initiation cere- 



236 



CAMP-FIRE CHATS OF TliE CIVIL WAR. 



mony. It was mso decided to go ahead and organize posts 
throughout the State. 

" Immediately a difficulty presented itself; they had only 
one copy of the ritual. How to get it printed without 
publicity, was the question. But this was soon answered. 
The editor of the Decatur (111.) ' Tribune;' as well as all of 
the printers in the office, had served their time in the army, 
and were therefore eligible to membership in the new society. 
To each of these the obligation was administered, and they 
were admitted into full membership. Four hundred copie>^ 
of the ritual were ordered printed and bound, and in a few 
days the rituals were ready for distribution. The organization 
was named, 

"THE GRAND ARMY OF THE REPUBLIC." 

"As yet not a single Post had been formed. On the 
night of April 6, 1866, in the Hall of the ' Sons of Malta ' at 
Decatur, Illinois, was organized ' Post No. i of the Grand 
Army of the Republic' It was late when the meeting ad- 
journed, but, full of the spirit of the occasion, and determined 
to create a sensation, < the Boys' went to the * Tribune' 
office, and had a number of posters struck off, upon which 
was the following: 



G. A. R. 

POST NO. 1 

DECATUR, 
APRIL 6, 1866. 



I 



CAMP-FIRE CHATS OF THE CIVIL WAR. 337 

« Armed with paste-pot and brush they patroled the city, 
and posted these dodgers in the most conspicuous places. 
Upon the following day they were the talk of the town; and 
such was the birth of the Grand Army of the Republic. 
The organization of other posts rapidly followed throughout 
the State. Eagerly the veterans enrolled themselves under 
the new banners. Dr. Stephenson announced himself as 
commander, and issued the following order: 

"'Head Quarters Grand Army of the Republic, ) 
Springfield, III., June — , 1866. \ 
"'The undersigned hereby assumes command of the Grand 
Army of the Republic. Major Robert M. Woods is ap- 
pointed Adjutant General; Colonel Julius C. Weber and 
Lieut. John S. Phelps are appointed A. D. C. They will be 
obeyed and respected accordingly. 

"'By order of B. F. Stephenson, 

" 'R. M. Woods. Adjutant General.' 

" Soon the necessity of a State organization became appar- 
rent; so Dr Stephenson issued an order calling a meeting of 
delegates from the different Posts to assemble at Springfield, 
111., y^ify 12, 1866. 

" At the meeting which followed, the Department of Illinois 
was organized and systematized. John M. Palmer was elected 
Department Commander, New Posts were organized in 
other States. Dr. Stephenson by common consent assumed 
the duties of' Provisional commander-in-chief.' 

" Observing the growing popularity of the organization, 
and the necessity of its becoming more national in character, 
Dr. Stephenson issued the following order: 

"'Head Quarters Grand Army of the Republic, ) 
vSpringfield, III., Oct. 31, 1866. \ 
'"general order no. 13. 

" ' A National convention of the Grand Army of the 
Republic is hereby ordered to convene at Indianapolis, Indiana, 
at 10 o'clock on Tuesday, the twentieth day of November 



238 CAMP-FIRE CHATS OF THE CIVIL WAR. 

next, for the purpose of perfecting the National organization, 
and the transaction of such other business as may come before 
the Convention. 

"' The ratio of representation shall be as follows: Each 
Post shall be entitled to one representative, and when the 
membership exceeds one hundred, Lo one additional represen- 
tative and in the same ratio for every additional one hundred, 
or every fractional part thereof. 

"'All Department and District officers, ex-qfficio^ shall be 
members of said convention. All honorably discharged sol- 
diers and sailors, and those now serving in the army desirous 
of becoming members of the Grand Army of the Republic, are 
respectfully invited to attend the convention. All comrades 
are requested to wear the ' blue ' with corps badges, etc. 
"'Official: J. C. Webber, 

Adj't Gen., Dept. Illinois. 
" 'B. F. Stephenson, 

Com.-in-chief, G. A. R. U. S.' 

" In accordance with the call about two hundred and fifty 
members of the order from eleven different States assembled 
at Indianapolis, Indiana, on Nov. 20, 1866. 

" The meeting was called to order by Dr. Stephenson, and 
John M. Palmer of Illinois was elected chairman. The 
business of organizing and adopting rules for the government 
of the order was gone through with in two days. Stephen 
A. Hurlbut, of Illinois, was elected as the first commander-in- 
chief, to serve for one year. Dr. Stephenson was appointed 
adjutant general. 

" The convention adjourned to meet again at the call of 
the commander; but before adjourning the following 'Reso- 
lutions' and 'Platform of Principles' were adopted. 

"' We, the representatives of the soldiers and sailors of the 
military and naval service of the United States during the 
late war against traitors, reaffirming our devotion to these 
States, the Constitution and the laws of our country, and our 
abhorrence of treason and oppression, — 

^'' ^ Resolved. First: That the Grand Army or the Re- 



CAMP-FIRE CHATS OF THE CIVIL WAR. 



239 



public is organized to maintain in civil life, those great princi- 
ples for which it stood in arms under the national flag; that 
it stands pledged to crush out active treason, to advance and 
support loyalty, to secure sound constitutional liberty to all 
men, and to vindicate everywhere and at all times the full and 
complete rights of every loyal American citizen, — against all 
combinations of force or fraud that may attempt to deny or 
deprive them of such rights; — 

"'Second: That we pledge all the power and influence 
which, as individuals or as an association, we can wield legit- 
imately, in the most especial manner to those gallant men 
who stood fast by the country in the hour of its agony, 
in the rebellious States, and who, through all manner of 
losses and injuries, persecutions by force and persecutions 
under color of law, maintained their integrity, and vindicated 
their loyalty ; and we solemnly declare that no power that we 
can use shall be neglected until they are thoroughly and com- 
pletely protected in the active exercise of every right of 
American freemen through the entire country over which 
our flag floats; — 

" ' Third : That Congress in justice and not in cnarity, 
should pass a law equalizing in a just manner, the bounties of 
all Union soldiers and sailors; — 

" ' Fourth : That we now, as heretofore, pledge ourselves 
to use our best endeavors to procure appropriate State and 
national legislation, for the education and maintenance of the 
orphans and widows of our deceased comrades and maimed 
brethren, and to enforce a speedy adjustment and payment of 
all lawful claims against the government, due soldiers and 
sailors, and their friends; — 

" ' Fifth: That, in our opmion, no man is worthy to be a 
free citizen of a free country who is not willing to bear arms 
in its defence, and we, therefore, suggest to Congress the 
passage of a law making it the inexorable duty of every 
citizen to defend his country in time of need, in person and 
not by substitute ; — 

« ' Sixth : That as a matter of justice and right, and 
because the sacrifice made and dangers encountered by the 
Union soldiers and sailors who served in the late war for the 
preservation of the country, cannot ever be fully repaid, we 
respectfully ask that those in authority bestow upon needy 



2d.O CAMP-FIRE CHATS OF THE CIVIL WAR. 

ana worthy soldiers and sailors such positions of honor and 
profit as they may be competent to fill; and while we seek 
nothing for ourselves, or those of our comrades who are able 
to maintain themselves, we do earnestly recommend this 
request to the consideration of those in authority. And we 
especially ask the attention of the President to his policy 
heretofore declared on this subject.' 

" The second National Encampment was held at Phila- 
delphia, Pa , Jan. 15, 16 and 17, 1S6S. Delegates from 
twenty-one States were present. John A. Logan, of Illinois, 
was elected commander-in-chief. 

" At this session a resolution was adopted calling upon 
Congress to enact a law which should allow none but de- 
ceased Ujiion soldiers and sailors of the late war to be buried 
in the National cemeteries; also, to enact a law whereby 
ex-Union soldiers and sailors should have the preference in 
appointment to positions of profit and trust. 

" ORIGIN OF DECORATION DAY. 

" It was at this encampment that ' Memorial Day ' was 
instituted. A resolution was passed that the thirtieth day of 
May of each year be designated as ' Memorial ' or * Decora- 
tion Day," upon which day the members of the G. A. R. 
were to decorate the graves of their deceased comrades with 
flowers and evergreens; and General Logan, in an address to 
the encampment spoke as follows, concerning it; 

"'To keep the scenes of war with all its horrors vivid 
before the mind, without some still more important motive, 
would hardly meet with the approval of this intelligent age. 
It was to keep constantly before the mind the cost of liberty, 
and the fricc paid for the suppression of rebellion, and the 
preservation of a free and independent Government; to keep 
forever green the hallowed memory of the heroic dead, who 
had fallen to save their country from disunion and dishonoi. 
This ceremony is but an external expression of one of the 
great principles of our Order, and should the organization in 



CAMP-FIRE CHATS OF THE CIVIL WAR. 24I 

coming years cease to exercise its functions, — I trust that the 
ceremony so happily coming from it, may never cease, for so 
long as it continues to be heartily observed, we will have the 
assurance that there are loyal hearts in the land that cling to 
the integrity of our Union, and condemn treason to ou;^ 
Government' 

" ' The third National encampment was held at Cincin- 
nati, Ohio, May 12 and 13, 1869. John A. Logan was re- 
elected commander-in-chief for another year. 

" From the Adjutant General's report at this Encampment 
we learn that the order was rapidly dying out in the Western 
States, but was being kept alive in the East — Illinois, vv^hich 
at one time had three hundred and thirty Posts, reporting- 
only six. On the other hand, Ohio reported three hundred 
and three Posts in good standing. 

*' Inquiry developed the fact that 'politics^ was killing 
the order. The veterans were suspicious, and looked upon it 
as a huge political machine, used by unscrupulous office-seek- 
ers to further their own ends and aims. The people, taking 
the same view of the case, were also disgusted with it, and 
refused to countenance or help it along. Therefore this 
encampment voted to remodel the entire structure. A new 
set of Rules and Regulations was adopted, wherein politics 
especially was prohibited, viz : Article XI, Chapter V : 

" ' No officer or comrade of the Grand Army of the Re- 
public shall in aiiy ma7tner use this organization for partisan 
purposes, and no discussion of partisan questions shall be 
permitted at any of its meetings, nor shall any nominatJorr% 
for political office be made.' 

" The encampment also established three grades in the 
order called the ' Recruit,' 'Soldier' and ' Veteran,' the latter 
only, being admitted into full membership; and also adopted 
the following articles of Rules and Regulations which are in 
full force at the present t-me:] 



2^2 CAMP-FIRE CHATS OF THE CIVIL WAR. 

« OBJECTS 

** * The objects to be accomplished by this organization are 
as follows: 

"* First: To preserve and strengthen those kind and 
fraternal feelings which bind together the soldiers, sailors and 
mariners who united to suppress the late rebellion and to 
perpetuate the memory and history of the dead. 

"'Second: To assist such former comrades in arms as 
need help and protection; and to extend needful aid to the 
widows and orphans ot those who have fallen. 

"'Third: To maintain true allegiance to the United 
States of America, based upon a paramount respect for, and 
Hdelity to, the National Constitution and laws; to discounte- 
nance whatsoever tends to weaken loyalty, incites to insurrec- 
tion, treason or rebellion, or in any manner impairs the 
efficiency and permanency of our free institutions; and to en- 
courage the spread of universal liberty, equal rights and 
justice to all men, 

"'ELIGIBILITY TO MEMBERSHIP. 

" ' Soldiers and Sailors of the United States Army, Navy 
or Marine Corps, who served between April 12, 1S61, and 
August 20, 1866, in the war for the suppression of the Rebel- 
lion, and those having been honorably discharged therelrom 
after such service, and of such State regiments as were called 
into active service and subject to the orders of U. S. Gencjal 
Officers, between the dates mentioned, shall be eligible to 
membership in the Grand Army of the Republic. No person 
shall be eligible to membership who has at any time borne 
arms against the United States.' 

" From that time to the present the growth of the Order 
has been steady and prosperous. The ' boys,' finding that 
they were not to be used as ' somebody's tool ' for political 
purposes, gradually came forward and joined the various Posts, 
manifesting a willingness to be identified with an organization 
whose aims and purposes were purely and unequivocally; 
Fraternity, Charity and Loyalty. 



CAMP-FIRE CHATS OF THE CIVIL WAR. 243 

^^ The Jburt^ National Encampment was held at Wash- 
ington, D. C, May ii and I3, 1870. John A. Logan was 
re-elected commander-in-chief for a third term. " 

" This encampment adopted resolutions calling noon Con- 
gress to make Memorial Day (May 30) a le^al h^' ^ay. A 
'Badge' for the order was also adopted, C~2 sar.^ as now 
worn by the members of the G. A. R., and may be described 
thus: 

" A five-pointed bronze star made from canv.c i captured 
in decisive battles of the civil war, and donated by Congress 
for the purpose. The design upon one side presents the 
Goddess of Liberty to represent Loyalty^ and on either side 
of her is a soldier and sailor clasping hands to represent Fra- 
ternity^ while two little children, leceiving benediction and 
assurance of protection from the comrades, represent Charity, 
On each side of the group is the national flag and eagle, rep- 
resenting Freedom^ while the axe and bundle of rods or 
fasces^ represent Union. In each point of the star is the in- 
signia of the various arms of the service, that is the bugle for 
Infantry, crossed cannon for Artillery, crossed muskets for the 
Marines, crossed swords for the Cavalry, and the anchor for 
the Sailors. Over the central group are the words ' Grand 
Army of the Republic ;' under the group, ' 1861. Veteran. 
1866,' commemorating the beginning and close of the civil 
war; also the date of the organization of the G. A. R. 

" The other side of the star presents a branch of laurel — 
the crown and reward of the brave — on each point of the 
star. The National shield in the center, surrour. "ed by the 
twenty-four recognized corps badges in the order of their 
number, each on a keystone, and all linked together, are ar- 
ranged to show that they are united, and will guard and pro- 
tect the shield of the Nation. Around the center is a circle 
of stars representing the States of the Union, also the Depart- 
ments' composing the Grand Army of the Reoublic. 



244 CAMP-FIRE CHATS OF THE CIVIL WAR. 

" The clasp of the badge is a bronze eagle with outstretched 
wings, holding a naked sword over crossed cannon and piled 
ammunition, representing Defense — always ready to defend 
the flag of the United States, which, as the emblem and ribbon 
of the order, is suspended from the clasps and sustains the sta?-. 

" ThQ Jiftk National Encampment was held at Boston. 
Mass., May lo and ii, 1871. 

" A. E. Burnside, of Rhode Island, was elected command- 
er-in-chief. The 'grade system' was abolished, and only one- 
degree for full membership established. 

" The sixth National Encampment was held at Cleve- 
land, Ohio, May 8 and 9, 1872. A. E. Burnside was re-elect- 
ed commander-in-chief. 

" The seventh National Encampment was held at Nev. 
Haven, Connecticut, May 14 and 15, 1873. Charles A. 
Devens, of Massachusetts, was elected commander-in-chief. 

" The eighth National Encampment was held at Har- 
risburg, Penn., May 13, 1874, Charles A. Devens being re- 
elected commander-in-chief. 

" The ninth National Encampment was held at Chicago, 
111., May 12 and 13, 1875. John F. Hartranft, of Pennsyl- 
vania, was elected commander-in-chief. 

" The tenth National Encampment was held at Philadel- 
phia, Penn., June 30, 1876. John F. Hartranft was re-elect- 
ed commander-in-chief. 

" The eleventh National Encampment was held at Prov- 
idence, R. I., June 26 and 27, 1877. John C. Robinson, of 
New York, was elected commander-in-chief. 

" The twelfth National Encampment was held at 
Springfield, Mass., June 4, 1878. John C. Robinson was re- 
elected commander-in-chief. 

" The thirteenth National Encampment was held at Al- 
bany, New York, June 17 and 18, 1879. William Earnshaw, 
of Ohio, was elected commander-in-chief. 




G. A. R. BADGE. 



REVERSE OF STAR. 



246 CAMP-FIRE CHATS OF THE ClVlL WAR. 

" The Adjutant General reported a gain for the past year 
of 4,048 members, and a total membership of 31,415. 

" The fourteenth Annual Encampment was held at 
Dayton, Ohio. Commander Earnshaw positively declined 
to be a candidate for re-election, saying that he wished ^.o es- 
tablish the precedent that no man should hold che office of 
commander-in-chief for more than one term. 

" Louis Wagner, of Pennsylvania, was elected command- 
er-in-chief. 

" The Report of the Adjt.-Gen. showed a membership of 
44,802 on December 31, 1879, being a gain during the year 
of 13,387. 

" The Jifteentk National Encampment was held at 

Indianapolis, Indiana, June 15 and 16, 1881. George S. 

Merrill of Massachusetts, was elected commander-in-chief. 

' The gain in membership during the previous year was 15,876, 

and a total membership of 60,678. 

" The sixteenth National Encampment was held at Bal- 
timore, Maryland, June 21, 22 and 2.3, 1882. 

" Paul Vandervoort of Nebraska, was elected commander- 
in chief. The gain in membership during the previous year 
was reported at 25,178, and the total membership at 85,865. 

" The seventeenth National Encampment was held at 
Denver, Colorado, July 25 and 26, 1883. Robert B. Beath 
of Pennsylvania was elected commander-in-chief. The Ad- 
jutant General reported that on Dec. 31, 1882, there were 
131,890 members in good standing — showing a gain of 46,- 
034 during the year. He also reported that on March 31, 
1S83, there were 145,932 members and 971 Posts in good 
standing, or a gain in three months of 174 Posts and 14,042 
members. All over the country the order is reported as in a 
flourishing condition. New Posts are springing up in every 
direction. Even away out on the frontiers, in the Territories, 
strong working Posts may be ^cund. Each year, wherever 



CAMP-FIRE CHATS OF THE CIVIL WAR. 247 

ihe National Encampment has been held, the citizens have 
received the veterans with open arms, and have done their 
very best to make their stay agreeable. Nothing was too 
good for the men who had hazarded their lives to save the 
Nation as one country and under one flag. 

" It is now well understood that the Grand Army of the 
Republic is not a huge political machine, that it fivors no 
political party, and indorses no man for office. As an organi- 
zation it inculcates a spirit of patriotism in the rising genera- 
tion. As an organization the members do not forget * that 
fraternity of feeling which binds them together as comrades^ 
that charity which prompts them to the noblest sacrifices for 
the needy and destitute wards of the Grand Army, and that 
Loyalty which binds them together as citizens, and to an 
undying vigilance which is the price of liberty.' 

" In an address to the encampment. Commander Devens 
said: 'The objects of our Association are such as should 
commend themselves not only to those who have fought 
under the flag of the Union, but to all good citizens also. 
Against our organization it has been especially charged that 
it was secret in Its character, and that all secret societies were 
dangerous in a republican government. Plausible as this 
remark sounds, it is obvious that it can have no proper appli- 
cation to those societies whose purposes are well known, and 
whose secrecy is limited entirely to the Ritual by which their 
proceedings are conducted, and to their modes of recognizing 
their fellow members. The Grand Army has no purpose 
that it is unwilling to reveal to the world j it has no obliga- 
tion that any citizen soldier, who is the same man to-day in 
thought and feeling that he was in the hour of trial, cannot 
take without hesitation or reservation; it has no political bear- 
ing or significance ; any effort to turn it to any such object is to 
be resisted with our utmost resolution. As the old army was 
always broad enough to include all (no matter what might 



248 CAMP-FIRE CHATS OF THE CIVIL WAR. 

be their differences of opinion as to men or measures) of loyal 
and true devotion, so this Association is broad enough to wel- 
come to its ranks every veteran whose heart still beats respop- 
sively to the music of the Union. In this connection I deem 
it proper to say that sometimes attetn'pts have been made to 
secure the influence of our organization in matters mere?y 
political, such as aiding in elections of, or securing appoint- 
ments for, particular individuals. Such attempts have nev^T 
received, and will not at any time receive, any encouragement 
at the National Headquarters. They are not only in viola- 
tion of the whole spirit of our order, but of its letter^ as 
expressed by its Rules and Regulations. Let it be under 
stood that our organization has no system of politico 
except that great and grand system in which all true 
men are agreed, whether citizens or soldiers — those prin- 
ciples of devotion to the death, if need be, for Liberty and the 
Laws, for the Constitution and the Union, which we once 
preached with our rifles in our hands and our country's flag 
above our heads, amidst the smoke and fire of an hundred 
battlefields. Let it be known that by these principles alone 
we are united, that this society does not exist for any personal 
ends or selfish purposes, and that it is not to be used by any 
man, or any set of men. If those who have enjoyed life 
together as schoolmates or classmates, delight to renew the 
scenes of their former life, and to live over again in each 
other's company the days that are passed, surely the tie of 
affection which binds together men who have not only 
enjoyed much but suffered together, must be one of no 
ordinary character. 

«' Unless hearts were flint, no man could be insensible or 
cold to him by whose side he had stood shoulder to shoulder 
in the ranks of war, upon whose fidelity and courage he had 
known that his own life depended, and felt reassured as he 
looked upon his resoiute brow and kindling eye, and to 



CAMP-FIRE CHATS OF THE CIVIL WAR. 249 

jvhom he had been all that is expressed by the simple but 
dear word — comrade, 

" * Agreeable and delightful as are the social characteristics 
of our association, it has higher aims than these, to guard and 
cherish the memory of those of our comrades who have 
passed away; to teach the inestimable value of the services of 
those who — unused to the trade of arms — did not hesitate, 
when the hour of trial came, to leave the plow in the furrow 
and the hammer on the anvil, and commit themselves to the 
shock of battle, appealing to the God of battles for the justice 
of their cause, is with us a most sacred duty. And this not 
alone that the dead may be honored^ but that the living may 
be encouraged to imitate their example, and that the strong 
spirit of nationality and loyalty to the Government which 
bore us up so bravely through four years of unexampled trial 
may be fostered and strengthened, and that we ourselves may 
be consecrated anew to the cause for which so many have 
suffered. But, although it is our object to do justice to the 
memory of our dead, it is our aim to do justice to the living 
also; to secure a fair and just recognition of their claims, and 
to protect their rights by all suitable means within our 
control. Above all, as true homage must consist not in words 
but in deeds, we have always held that no higher honor could 
be paid to the just fame of the brave men who have defended 
the Republic than to assist by kind words and material aid 
all good and true soldiers who by wounds, disease, old age or 
misfortune, have become dependent, and tenderly to care for 
the widows and orphans of the fallen. The motto which 
our order bears — ' Fraternity, Charity and Loyalty,' — is the 
brief summary of its principles.' 

" In his address to the National Encampment, said Chap- 
lain-in-chief, Lovering: 'So far as the faith and morals of 
the G. A. R. are concerned, I have this to say: Its faith has 
its religion, and its religion has the devout obedience of every 



250 CAMP-FIRE CHATS OF THE CIVIL WAR. 

worthy member of our order. I do not refer to any religion, 
sectarian or universal, liberal or conservative, Christian or 
Pagan, as such. Whatever disputes there may be outside 
of our organization concerning them, do not affect us. Reli- 
gion means bond. The highest religion casts out all spirit 
of fear and makes its 'bond' that of love. Our religion, 
within the terms of our organization, claims that highest 
bond. It is permeated, it is saturated with the spirit of that 
love. That love is love of country. That religion is the re- 
ligion of patriotism. 

" ' Its altars are the graves of the unforgotten and heroic. 
Its symbol is the flag of our Union. Its priests are all those, 
within its organization, who confess this soldierly creed: I 
believe in a fraternity which joins in indissoluble union, jus- 
tice and right. 

" ' I believe in a charity that, while merciful to a conquered 
foe, does not stultify itself by surrendering the fruits of victo- 
ry; that never forgets the brightness of that cause which has 
been made illustrious by the heroic sacrifices of those whose 
graves should be the shrines of the Nation's reverence. 

" ' I believe in loyalty that acknowledges '-'•one country and 
one Jiag'^'' that makes American citizenship honorable every- 
where; thaj calls rebellion a crime, and the penalty of trea- 
son — deaths 

"'I believe that, in fraternity and charity, we should stand 
shoulder to shoulder, willing at all hazard of favor or fame 
to defend the G. A. R. as the standard bearer of the nation's 
loyalty. 

" ' There is one word I wish to emphasize. It is the rally- 
ing word of our whole body. It gives the pulse beat to ev- 
ery heart in every " Post." It is written upon every altar of 
patriotism we call a soldier's grave. It speaks to us in the 
honorable scars which wounds or disease, or the wasting 
hand of time has made on those who in the fullness of man- 



CAMP-FIRE CHATS OV THP. CIVIL WAR. 25I 

hood stood forth to battle for the Union and the right. It is 
woven into every thread, red, white, or blue, of our glorious 
banner. It shines in every ray of light that gleams from the 
stars we have plucked with full hands from the skies to 
brighten and glorify our flag. It is the one word that h 
above the taint of political partisanship, and which seals our 
allegiance to one country and one flag. Cicero, the Roman 
orator, when he denounced the traitor and conspirator, Cata- 
line, said, " Let it be written upon the forehead of every citi- 
zen what are his views concerning the republic." Oar views 
have been written upon the pages of our Nation's history in 
ineffaceable characters. The ink was blood; the pens were 
bayonets and sabers. One word focalizes these views. It is 
written upon the forehead of every soldier. The spirit of it 
beats in the heart of every soldier. The temper of it tough- 
ens every muscle and thrills along every nerve of every sol- 
dier. That word is "Z<9)/«//y." ' 

" Commander-in-chief George S. Merrill in his address 
said : ' The Grand Army is to-day the representative organi- 
zation of the soldiers and sailors of America, the one great 
association which includes the veterans of every army and all 
ranks ; the men who followed the flag upon the land, and 
who fought beneath its folds upon the sea ; men of every 
nationality, color and creed ; the officer who wore the well 
worn Siais of a general, and the private whose only badge of 
distinction was in patriotic and faithful service in the ranks — 
all upon the common level of Comrades of the flag with 
''^Fraternity''' which would bind in closer ties the veterans 
who offered all that they possessed upon the altar of country: 
with ''''Charity'''' which would protect and care for the needy 
ones among all the Nation's defenders, their wives and little 
ones, and '-''Loyalty'''' which would keep ever brightly burn- 
ing that spirit of patriotism leading a free people to rise, in 
the majesty and might of 1861, to defend the unity of the re- 



252 CAMP-FIRE CHATS OF THE CIVIL WAR. 

public, and secure to generations yet unborn a government 
from, by and for all the people; let the success of the past be 
but an inspiration to greater efforts in behalf of our organiza- 
tion in the future, and rest and sleep come not within our 
tents until every honorably discharged soldier and sailor who 
merits our confidence is enrolled in the Grand Army of the 
Republic' 

" Said Commander-in-chief Vandervoort in his address : 
'We stand in line to-day as we did when we marched to the 
front burning with loyalty, breaking asunder the ties of party 
and meeting on one common platform, waving aloft a torn 
and honorable discharge, and exemplifying fraternity, charity 
and loyalty. 1 have heard the doctrine advocated that the 
sentence in our "installation service" "That we should stand 
by the soldier though the whole world assail him," means 
that we should do so if our comrade is a candidate for politi- 
cal office. 

" ' The Grand Army fetters the conscience of no member. 
It gives the largest liberty to all. It stands aloof from the 
strife and clash of parties. "It will stand by the comrade 
though the whole world assail him" in sickness, in distress, 
when the old wounds re-open, when the wife and children 
are destitute. It will take old veterans from the "almshouse." 
It will remove their bones from a pauper's grave, and bury 
them in holy ground. It will procure employment. It will 
lighten up the desolate home with the glowing illustration of 
Charity, but in all political and religious affairs we will hold 
our independence of thought, and our conscience as something 
we will not surrender to any order in the land. 

" ' To close I can not do better than to give an extract from 
A poem by Emily Hawthorne : 

" ' In years agone, a fearful strife was ended: 
And hosts of valiant men who came together 
At their country's call, — summoned to combat, 



CAMP-FIRE CHATS OF THE CIVIL WAR. 253 

Whose name was legion when they started forth, 
Were now dispersed ; o'er this broad land 

From East to Western shores were widely scattered, 

And resumed their peaceful avocations 

In field or shop, as ere they went to war. 

The clanking swords and sabers in quiet 

Graced the wall, with gleaming bayonets sheathed : 

The muskets now in dusty corners stacked, 

Rested, and rusty grew, while, bent to duty, 

The patient shoulders where they had been borne. 

Were placed to move the wheels of honest industry 

Which once more sang, with an unceasing hum 

The song of peaceful labor, honest toil. 

As erst my muse declared was warfare ended. 

And e'en a twelve month, too, had passed away, 

Since "Grand Review" and final muster out; 

When a strange germ in memory's garden grew ; 

For months this tender thought had lain, deep hid, 

Like a spring flower that sleeps 'neath wintry snows, 

Till balmy seasons call its tendrils forth ; 

Thus mem'ry touched the germ in many hearts 

And woke Fraternal feeling in the breast 

Of comrades who had shared the Aveary march; 

From same canteen had quaffed the cooling drink, 

Assuaging thirst intense, of famished men, 

Who, shoulder to shoulder, had met the foe ; 

Where fiercest carnage raged had borne the brunt, 

And had together faced its scenes of horror. 

Then midst the loyal lads o'er all the "States" 

In field and shop, and busy mart wide severed, 

The feeling grew, a yearning unsuppressed. 

To see and greet again those fellow soldiers. 

This longing found expression and reply ; 

Some met, were thrilled with joy, and organized 

This loyal, true, and mighty brotherhood, 

" Grand Army of Republic." Thus was formed 

The nucleus small of numbers few. 

Round which now stand two hundred thousand comrades. 

Loyalty was its test and basis firm, 

And with Fraternity presided there ; 

These two were wed, and from this union true, 



254 



CAMP-FIRE CHATS OF THE CIVIL WAR. 

Came Charity^ which greater is than all. 

These soldiers' hearts are swajed by unseen motors- 

They are united by a wondrous tie; 

A mystic link inured by battles dared, 

Strong joined, aye, welded too, by dangers shared. 

By camp-fires lighted in a thousand towns. 

Do comrades bring the wealth of memory's stores ; 

The symbols keep of war's vicissitudes; 

Join hands in holy realm of sympathy. 

And annually the "Grand Encampment" meets, 

And year by year grows large with added numbers. 

So shall this order prosper, lifted o'er 

All party wrangle or dissension's strife, 

And gather hosts of veteran recruits. 

Till ten years pass — fast fall the soldiers old — 

And then shall surely come the lessening ranks. 

With no more volunteers from whom to choose j 

Then one by one shall all be mustered out, 

Yet, answer to a glorious reveille. 

And join the comrades who have gone before. 

In Heaven shall gather an army grand, 

To form one universal brotherhood.' " 



(History continued on pages 347 to 404. 




CAMP-FIRE XXII. 

A ROMANCE OF THE WAR A STORY STRANGE BUT TRUE 

WHAT AN INSANE FISHERMAN CAUGHT. 

ATHERED together this evening — a very ccmfortable 
one — the veterans chatted miscellaneously for a time be- 
fore commencing business. Finally the commander fired 
up the pipe of peace, and then called the assembly to order. But 
in his eagerness to proceed with the chats he somehow forgot 
to pass the pipe around, thereby totally disregarding the tra- 
ditionary custom of his majesty, the redskin. Since it was 
the commander who abused the tradition, the comrades each 
concluded to light a pipe for himself, after which Captain 
M — k spoke: 

" In the summer of 1862 our regiment was stationed along 
the line of railroad from Decatur to Courtland- Alabama. 
Small parties of us, from time to time, went out foraging on 
our own account, and on one of these expeditions I had an 
adventure which had never recurred to my mind until an 
event which happened a few years after the war recalled it 
forcibly. 

*' After the cessation of hostilities, there was considerable 
talk throughout the North of forming colonies to settle in the 
West and South. Well, I got the 'colony fever' and con- 
ceived the idea of getting up a colony to settle in Northern 
Alabama, probably near our old stamping ground. 

" With this project in view I went from Chicago to De- 
catur, Alabama, and from there by rail still further South to- 
ward the Black Warrior River. Reaching my journey's end 

255 



356 CAMP-FIRE CHATS OF THE CIVIL WAR. 

I concluded to return on horseback by a round-about way, 
and visit some of the back country; so I hired a horse and 
started out, first gathering information as to where I could 
find accommodations on the road, for houses and settlers are 
very scarce in that part of the world, so that it behooves a 
traveler to get his 'points' before setting out on a journey. 
My calculation was to reach the house of a certain settler at 
about seven o'clock in the evening. Seven o'clock came, but 
no settler's house in sight; — eight o'clock — nine o'clock — ten 
o'clock, and still no house to be seen. 

" By this time I was thoroughly convinced that I had 
lost my way. I was tired out, and my horse was completely 
jaded. I rode on about an hour, and at last to my supreme 
delight I spied a light which I made for at once. I found 
that it proceeded from the window of a log cabin to which I 
rode up, and dismounting and hitching my horse, I attempted 
to enter the yard, when three savage dogs with angry growls 
disputed my further advance. But I finally succeeded in 
safely reaching the porch. I gave a knock on the door which 
roused the proprietor of the place, whereupon the following 
dialogue ensued, through the closed door: 

"'Who's there?' 

" ' A traveler who has lost his way.' 

" ' What do you want? ' 

" ' I want accommodationfor myself and horse till morning.' 

" ' Well, you can't stay here. I don't keep tavern.' 

" ' How far is it to the next house ? ' 

" ' Seven miles.' 

" ' It's not possible for me to go seven miles, for my horse 
is completely tired out.' 

" ' I can't help that ; my wife is sick, and I can't have you 
around.' 

" ' Can't you give me some feed for my horse, and a blank- 
et for myself ? I'll sleep on the porch.' 



CAMP-FIRE CHATS OF THE CIVIL WAR. 



257 



"After considerable parleying and urging, this request 
was finally granted. Soon the door opened and a tall, pow- 
erful man emerged, carrying a lantern which he held squarely 
in my face for a moment in order to get a good look at me, 
after which he led the way to the stable, where he groomed 
and fed my horse, and then we returned to the house. 

"At the porch I halted, expecting him to go in and get 
me a blanket; but as he entered the door he said: 

" ' Come in, stranger; I want to talk to you.' 

" I entered the cabin and sat down. He threw a few 
pine knots upon the smoldering fire and soon a bright blaze 
illumined the room. Then placing himself squarely in 
front of me, and giving me a searching look, he demanded in 
an imperious manner: 

" * Now, stranger, I want to know who you are, and 
what is your business in these parts? ' 

" ' I have already told you that I am a traveler looking 
for a suitable location to establish a colony from the North.' 

"' Looking for land, hey! Going to establish a colony? 
Now, stranger, that story is altogether too thiii! Men don't 
go round at midnight hunting v land. Now tell me the 
truth — who are you, and w^ ,>. are you after P"* 

" ' I have already told ou who I am, and my business ; 
and if you don't believf .io it is not my fault.' 

- "Again he searc' .gly eyed me, and then with an earnest 
emphasis, said: 

"" Strangf" ou have been in these parts before 1 

" « Yes,' 

"'You were a Yankee soldier, then? 

"*Yes/ 

"« In 1862, and stationed near Decatur?' 

"'Yes.' • 

" ' While out foragin' one day with another Yankee you 
stumbled into Roddy's confederate cavalry camp; but before 
you were discovered you turned back and escaped? ' 



25^ CAMP-FIRE CHATS OF THE CIVIL WAR, 

« ' Yes.' 

"'Just as you left Roddy's camp you met one of Roddy's 
men with a neck-yoke over his shoulders, and carrying a 
couple of buckets of water in his hands?' 

" ' Yes.' 

" '- Tou put your pistol to that man's head and forced him 
to go over a mile to the rear with you to preverxi his giving 
an alarm?' 

«'Yes.' 

"' Stranger, I am that man!'* 

" It seemed to me, about that time, that he meant business, 
and intended to settle the old affair there and then. But 
putting on a bold front, I remarked as unconcernedly as ] 
could: 

" ' Well, you have a mighty good memory.' 

" ' Yes, I remember some things. You bet I knew you 
the minute I set eyes on you; and I'll remember you as long 
as I live.' 

" Meanwhile his wife had made her appearance, and, 
lighting her corn-cob pipe, seated herself near the fireplace, 
prepared to enjoy the fun. 

"I hardly knew what would come next; but, after a pause, 
the man changed his position and manner, and said: 

"'Now that I've told you '^\\o you are I'll tell you more 
about myself. I staid with Roddy's Cavalry Corr.pany for 
about three months after I saw you, and then my brother 
and myself deserted and enlisted in the First Alabama Union 
cavalry regiment, where we staid till the close of the war. 
After the war we came home; we were obliged to sleep in 
caves and keep concealed for a long time, as our former com. 
panions sought to kill us, and hunted us like wolves. Our 
lives were in danger every minute — but lately they don't 
trouble us much. 

"' But I say, stranger, how's things up North? Is there 



CAMP-FIRE CHATS OF THE CIVIL WAR. 259 

going to be another war? We think there will be soon. If 
there is you may count on me in going in for Union! ' 

" He now brought me out a lunch to which I did ample 
justice, and then I asked for a blanket that I might go to 
sleep upon the porch, as agreed. 

" <- No sir,' said he ; 'no blanket for you ; I've as good a 
bed as there is in this part of the country, and you are 
welcome to it!' 

"After sleeping till morning I found a fine breakfiist 
awaiting me, and that my horse had been already taken care 
of; and when I started off again my landlord accompanied nie 
for several miles to show me the way." 

" That's a good story," said Colonel Van Buren, of the 
i92d New York; "but let me tell an incident that will remind 
many of you of a hundred similar schemes which the home- 
sick invented to get discharged. 

"You all know how the boys tried the insanity dodge. 
Well, there was one fellow in my regiment who played it 
most successfully. We were at Fort Grebel in February, 
1862. Fort Grebel was on the branch of the Potomac, 
opposite Arlington Heights. 

" One night there was a very heavy rain, and in the morn- 
ing, before the other soldiers began to stir about the camp, 
this fellow~I have forgotten his name — tied a string to his 
bayonet, took a position on the parapet, began fishing ;n a 
shallow pool, and to all appearances became entirely unmind- 
ful of his surroundings. 

" An hour passed. No one interrupted him, and still he 
could be seen quietly but regularly lifting his gun with the 
string from the pool, as though the gun were a fishing pole, 
and that he had a bite. By and by the sun came up, and 
while the other boys were going about camp preparing for 
breakfast, the fisherman still kept up his weary stroke, lifting 
his supposed fishing-tackle from the water almost as regularly 
as though it were done by a clock. 



26o CAMP-FIRE CHATS OF THE CIVIL WAR. 

"The surroundings and occasion were such that it was 
only necessary for a sane man to look once in order to be 
convinced that something was lacking about. the ' head-work ' 
of the machine which was fishing in the pool. 

" The boys all began to talk about the matter, many of 
them jesting in a manner wholly amusing. But no cessation 
in the regular stroke of the fisherman. Finally the matter 
came to the notice of the captain, who at once proceeded to 
the interesting scene of operations. 

"' What are you doing there?' he demanded. 

" No response. The gun and string were lifted with the 
same regularity as ever. 

" ' Halt! ' commanded the captain. 

" Not a single movement of the fisherman. Up went the 
pretended fishing-tackle again. 

"'Shoulder arms!' again commanded the captain, think- 
ing that hearing an accustomed order might bring the soldier 
to his senses. 

" But the warrior's countenance was as rigid as ever, and 
the fixed stare seemed riveted on the string which hung from 
the point of his bayonet and dropped carelessly down into the 
small pool before him. 

" The captain now concluded to report the matter to the 
colonel, and started oflf on the errand at once. He suddenly 
met the colonel who had also beheld the fisherman, and was 
coming to investigate. The captain then returned to the scene 
with the colonel, when the same experience was repeated. 

" The colonel concluded to call the surgeon, who came 
and examined the fisherman, — as well as possible while the 
incessant raising and lowering of his gun was being carried 
on, — and recommended that the insane fisherman be given a 
discharge, which was accordingly written out and handed to 
the captain j but before it was given to the soldier, the colonel 
asked : 



CAMP-FIRE CHATS OF THE CIVIL WAR. 261 

" ' What are you fishing for ? ' 

" No reply. 

" * Well, I guess you can give him the document,' con- 
tinued the colonel, and the captain handed it over to the 
fisherman, saying loudly: 

"'Here! take this!' 

" ' T/zafs what I was JishingforJ replied the fisherman 
as he threw down his gun, pocketed the discharge, and imme- 
diately left camp, much to the amazement of the colonel, the 
captain and the surgeon, and very much to the amusement of 
all others who had heard the conversation." 




CAMP-FIRE XXIII. 

THE WRONG OX BY THE HORNS — THE TABLES TURNED ON 

AN officer's STRICT DISCIPLINE A DECISION BY 

MANSFIELD, GENERAL RIVALRY IN RELIGION. 



FEW evenings since," said Mr. S. W. Rodgers, "a 
reminiscence of General Nelson was given, in which 
^^ something was said about strict discipline. I remember 
a similar incident in which an officer was compelled to take a 
dose of his own medicine. It was in the fall of 1863, after 
the army had advanced beyond Chattanooga. Fortress Rose- 
era ns, Murfreesboro, was garrisoned by disabled batteries — to 
man the guns and do guard-duty they kept a picket line 
around the fortress. 

" Some of the officers in command of the post were not 
liked as well as they might have been, had they been more 
deserving. One of these, who was officer of the day at one 
time, and who had not been accustomed to holding office of 
any kind, much less to commanding soldiers, concluded that 
he would like to show his authority. So he gave strict official 
instruction to the pickets, each to halt at twenty paces, dis- 
mount, advance, and give the countersign. 

" All this passed off well enough, the boys executing the 
order to the letter. But finally the tables were turned. The 
officer tried to catch some of the boys asleep at their posts, 
but of course failed, most ludicrously. On the bank of Stone 
River, where the line crossed, there happened to be a reso- 
lute young fellow who could not be intimidated nor imposed 

upon. 

26a 



CAMP-FIRE CHATS OF THE CIVIL WAR. 263 

"The pickets saw that the officer in discussion was trying to 
impress upon the minds of the boys the fact that he had been 
promoted, and his vigilance, the picket, at once concluded to 
muster and control all his accustomed wariness, The officer 
approached from the opposite side of the river. The picket, 
however, had previously ascertained the fact that it was pre- 
cisely twenty paces from where he was standing to the middle 
of the river. It may have occurred, however, nothing being 
found in the annals of history to the contrary, that the picket 
previously moved his post a few feet from its original location 
toward the river, in order to have the middle of the river exact- 
ly twenty paces from his post; but this has never been proven. 

" Whichever vr."y that may have been, these two things 
are certain : That the officer rode into the stream with con- 
siderable pomp, and that the picket stood at his post with just 
as much pomp, like the hero that he was, probably thinking 
of Casablanca and a certain incident in the navy when the 
deck was on fire. 

" When the officer had reached the middle of the stream," 
continued Mr. Rodgers, who had been interrupted by the 
throwing of more twigs on the camp-fire, " the picket imme- 
diately commanded: 

« ' Halt ! Who goes there ? ' 

" ' I'm the officer of the guard^ replied the officer. 

" ' Dismount, advance and give the countersign! ' was the 
further order from the picket. 

"i Why, don't you know me, sir? — I'm the officer of the 
guard, sir, — officer of the guard! ' repeating the emphasized 
words with much importance. 

" ' I'm not supposed to know any one. I abide by the 
code, sir, — abide by the code; I must obey orders^sir^ — o-b-e-y 
orders!'' responded the picket, with the same kind of empha- 
sis that had come from the man in the river, and the picket 
raised his gun to fire. 



264 CAMP-FIRE CHATS OF THE CIVIL WAR. 

« ' Hold on! ' cried the officer, "77/ dismount ! ' and down 
he went into the river, the water of which had heen a month 
or two before considerably warmer than it was then. Any 
one who was listening might have heard an unusual amount 
of swearing by the ''officer of the guard'^ but this had no effect 
on the picket, who waited patiently for the officer to dis- 
mount, advance, and give the countersign. Next day the 
picket was put under arrest at the instance of the enraged 
officer, and was tried by court-martial, but of course cleared." 

Then General I. N. Stiles remembered a decision by 
Mansfield, the general, which the legal fraternity may com- 
pare with one by Mansfield, the justice. 

"When the rebel ram,Mernmac," said he, " first appeared 
at Hampton Roads — March 8, 1862, — General Mansfield was 
in command of the land forces. The ram had sunk the Union 
war vessel 'Cumberland' and had disabled the 'Congress,' 
which was run ashore to prevent her being captured by 
the 'rebs.' 

" Seeing this. General Mansfield ordered the 20th In- 
diana Infantry to deploy along the beach, behind a sand 
ridge, to prevent the 'Congress' from being hauled off by the 
enemy. This vessel, now helpless and at the mercy of the 
Merrimac's guns, had run up a white flag in token of sur- 
render. Captain R., of the 20th Indiana, who had been as 
good a lawyer at home as he was now soldier in the field, 
susfsrested that it would be a violation of the laws of war to 
prevent the enemy from taking possession of the vessel, since 
'she had already surrendered.' 

" I know the d — d ship has surrendered,' replied General 
Mansfield, ' but I want you to understand that we haven't' 
The decision was final." 

After the foregoing incident a veteran who, through 
modesty, declined to give his name, told a religious (?) anec- 
dote. His name being unknown, the S. P. U. H. chroniclers 



I 



CAMP-FIRE CHATS OF THE CIVIL WAR. 265 

might have attempted to describe him, but he stood behind 
the smoke which was then rolling in clouds from the fire, so 
that he could not be seen. His story is this : 

" After we had settled down to some reliable routine of 
spending our time in the army, and had established what may 
be termed army society, our brigade and the one which was 
usually next to us became the most earnest rivals in almost 
everythm^. 

" The colonels of the brigades seemed to catch the inspi- 
ration, and the friendly contests which we had, generally cen- 
tered in them. 

" Well, one season there was a religious revival in oui 
brigade, which furnished an interesting programme for some 
time. The boys had been given a season of rest, and having 
much time to reflect upon their active wickedness,thev became 
passive, and concluded to be at least entertained by the exer- 
cises. 

" The other brigade saw that we were excelling them in 
this respect, and they determined upon a revival. Then an 
excitement arose, and the interest increased until finally twelve 
of our boys 'got religion,' and desired to be baptized. The 
baptism was administered, and soon a report of the occur- 
rence came to the ears of the colonel of the other brigade, 
who called up the chaplain at once, and said: 

"'Here! Chaplain, you have let that brigade over there 
get ahead of us! Go and detail at least thirty able-bodied 
men for baptism immediately. We'll not be outdone by 
them.' " 



CAMP-FIRE XXIV. 

THE WRONG KIND OF A CAT — *« MORE ABOUT THE BROKEN 
WINDOW," OR CRAWFORD AGAIN. 

fUST before Sherman started to Vicksburg," said a com- 
rade from the 76th Ohio, " the river became so low that 
it was exceedingly difficult to make any speed with the 
boats. The nights were very dark, on account of the thick 
fogs, and we therefore gave up trying to run at night. As 
soon as it began to grow dark, the boats dropped anchor, and 
then came the time tor rest and recreation, especially the lat- 
ter, the opportunity for which was generally improved by 
hunting something fresh to eat. 

" Two of us left the boat as soon as we could get ashore, 
and started off for a neighboring wilderness. We hurried 
along and were soon lost from the sight of the river and 
the dim outlines of the boats as they were ' tooting ' and puf- 
fing to and fro over the sand-bars. 

"We passed an old deserted log-cabin that well repre- 
sented to my mind the birthplace of some illustrious states- 
man, as indicated by some imaginative pictures. On our first 
approach to the place, my heart bounded in the hope that 
we would soon have our stomach filled with something a 
little more palatable than hard-tack and bacon, but the nearer 
we approached the place the nearer our hearts approached our 
boots. No inhabitants, human or otherwise, could be found. 
It was the first domicil I had ever seen about which there 
was absolutely no living thing, — that is, nothing large enough 
to eat. The situation was very apparent — as much so as the 

266 



CAMP-FIRE CHATS OF THE CIVIL WAR. 267 

growing darkness would allow. Curiosity, however, led us 
to explore. Old memories began to haunt us. I remembered 
the * poet's lines,' in the ' Return of the Dead :' 

"'The bolt flew back with sudden clangj 
I entered; wall and rafter rang.* 

" But the application of this was not practical, for two 
reasons: First, there was no bolt, and probably there never 
had been any; and second, there was no door, and with 
equal probability, there may never have been any. I thought 
of the two lines of poetry again, and at once concluded that 
they would be appropriate if I should change the punctua- 
tion. Hence, not thinking what I was about, I repeated the 
couplet aloud: 

*" The bolt flew back with sudden clang; 
I entered the wall; and the rafter rang I ' 

"No sooner had I repeated the lines than I adopted the 
conclusion, and thought to try the experiment. I called to 
my comrade: 

"' Come on; let's go in, and see what's here, any way.' 
" ' All right,' he replied, and soon was around on my side 
of the concern. We stepped nearer to the old hull. I put 
my hand against a log to try its firmness. That whole part 
of the building fell in! Sure enough, I did then enter the 
wall, my comrade following. We were now inside of the 
building. For my own part, I felt a little strange. Every- 
thing was quiet, of course. I looked around carefully with- 
out moving. There were many dark corners, and many 
openings to the habitation, the principal one of which was 
overhead; in fact, the' entire roof was made of sky. We 
looked and listened for a moment longer. There was a slight 
dull sound that startled us. ^ hen there was an unpleasant 
odor — perhaps from the rotten wood. We immediately left 



268 CAMP-FIRE CHATS OF THE CIVIL WAR. 

the premises, but the scent did not leave us, and the only 
unmistakable and unsatisfactory conclusion that we could 
adopt was, that a certain kind of a cat lived there. 

" Undaunted by this," continued the narrator, " we became 
only the more determined to have something to eat before re- 
turning, so we started on down the road. Before we went very 
far, however, we saw a light, and soon found this proceeded 
from the present abode of the people who had once lived in 
the dilapidated hulk which we had just left. We were now 
very tired, and concluded to purchase something to eat instead 
of looking farther. We bought six chickens and a few other 
things for five dollars, and, to the relief of the householders, 
made a short stay, returning hurriedly to the boat to change 
our clothing. As we approached the boat," — 

" Wait!" said the commander of the camp-fire. " Don't 
tell the rest of it." 

"No! your story is too long now," added the reporter, 
and the comrade sat down amidst applause. 

Mr. Crawley then supplemented his reminiscence of 
Crawford with the following: 

" On the march and in camp Crawford always improved 
every oppoitunity to make fun for the boys; but it was in 
' winter-quarters' where his propensity for fun found its full 
vent. With the aid of powder he invented all sorts of explo- 
sives, keeping the camp in a continual uproar; and that, too, 
without getting into trouble. He was always able to conceal 
the origin of his mischief, for, while many ol the officers and 
men suspected who was the real author of all the fuss, but 
few of them could have testified to it, and they could not have 
been induced to betray him. 

" One evening, I remember, as the men were falling in 
for roll-call, there occurred a terrific explosion which created 
the wildest commotion. Horses broke loose from the picket- 
line; men rushed for their arms, and the excitement at once 



270 CAMP-FIRE CHATS OF THE CIVIL WAR. 

spread over the camp. The enemy was thought to be right 
down on us, and immediate preparations began to be made to 
resLst an attack. The adjutant was sent to investigate, while 
the regiment sent up a yell which ended in a general laugh, 
with cries, ' Crawford again! Crawford again! ' 

" A little later I met Crawford with the same sad expres- 
sion on his face, and taking me aside, he showed me what, 
before it had exploded, had been a lead cannon, 

" ' How did it come to explode? ' I asked; for after burst- 
ing it had bulged out in the middle and had more the appear- 
ance of a steel rat-trap, when set, than anything else. He 
was now seized with another fit of laughter, during which he 
caught me by the arm and executed the ' Highland Fling' 
schottische around me, occasionally striking me in the back 
to give zest to the performance. 

" When the fit was over he said that he took half a 
canteen and put the edge of it on a split stick. This con- 
trivance served as a ladle in which he melted bullets. These 
he poured into a miniature well, in the center of which he 
had placed a small round stick perpendicularly, and around 
the stick; wrapped a piece of wet paper. The molten lead 
was then poured into the well until it stood above the end of 
the stick. After allowing the lead time to cool he dug it out, 
pulled out the stick, filled the lead cast thus obtained with 
powder, closed the muzzle by hammering it together, bored a 
hole about midway between the breech and muzzle, and then 
_ie concern was ready for business. 

«t Why did you use lead?' I asked, after he had finished 
describing the process of manufacturing the bogus cannon. 

"'Because,' he replied, 'it is safe. Lead will tear apart 
but not break into pieces; and being soft, I could close the 
muzzle and get a much louder report. See? And then if 
anybody should happen to find it, they wouldn't know what to 
*lo wvth it;' and he laughed again. 



CAMP-FIRE CHATS OF THE CIVIL WAR. 2'Jl 

« I shall never forget the night Crawford persuaded Jim 
Haiiday into his tent to play 'seven-up.' Jim was a 'recruit,' 
and had just begun to be fascinated by the game of cards. 
Crawford had always felt morally obligated to teach the 
recruits all the methods of army life, and generally had a 
new mode of initiation for each one. Jim, of course, could 
not be allowed to remain long in camp uninitiated. 

"On this particular night, Haiiday played with the usual 
peculiar luck which attends beginners, and frequently made 
*high, low, jack and the game,' and probably could have 
had the ' gift,' by asking for it; but he did not know that the 
piece of candle which burned within a foot of his head was 
loaded^ nor that above him was suspended a bucket of watei 
neatly on a pivot from which a small cord hung innocentl}! 
by the side of Crawford; nor was he aware that beneath 
him, and beside the box on which he sat, lay at least a quar- 
ter of a pound of loose powder, Haiiday held wonderful 
hands; he had just scored the inevitable ' high, low, jack and 
the game,' and the eager, flushed face, and sparkling eye, 
bespoke the excitement and pleasure born of victory, when 
the candle explodes and a piece of the burning wick sets 
Haliday's hair in a blaze, the powder is ignited beneath him, 
and while he and Crawford are both fighting the fire in 
Haliday's fore-top, Haiiday is treated to a cold shower bath 
from above. Haiiday was so badly frightened that he never 
got angry until next day, when he proposed to ' lick ' Craw- 
ford; but Crawford convinced him that the true policy was 
to claim, that while writing a letter home to his moi-:er in 
his tent, he thoughtlessly got his head too near the candle. 
Crawford told me a few days after this episode, while con- 
vulsed with laughter, that he regarded it as an outrage tiiat 
so few of the boys called on him at his tent. He also stated 
(and I believe truly) that the selting fire to Haliday's head, 
by the piece of burning wick, was wholly unforeseen and 



372 CAMP-FIRE CHATS OF THE CIVIL WAR. 

unintended. It may have been only imaginative, but it never 
seemed to me that Hahday held as good hands, or played 
the game with the same eager, unreserved, child-like con- 
fidence, that he did before he encountered Crawford. 

" For ' winter-quarters,' near Brownsville, Arkansas, some 
of the men built regular log-houses with chimneys and fire- 
places; others put up frame structures, six feet by ten, using a 
tent for a roof, but even these structures had small chimneys 
with fire-places; two bunks were constructed, one above the 
other, at right angles to the fire-place, and in front of the 
lower bunk a board or box was placed in front of the fire for 
a seat. One dark rainy night while walking down the 'tent- 
Ime,' old man Seward and Bierman jumped out of the top of 
one of these structures, carrying the tent roof with them, fol- 
lowed by a cloud of smoke and ashes. I had heard a noise be- 
fore I left my quarters, but noises were so frequent that I paid 
no particular attention to this one. Seward and Bierman, who 
* bunked' and 'messed' together, were members of the church, 
and v^ere trying to lead a consistent life ; and they succeeded as 
well nb their surroundings would permit, but it was a terribly 
uphill-business. On the evening in question it seems they 
hnd ' read a chapter,' and were engaged in singing the 
familiar and comforting hy mn : 

* It may not be my way, 
It may not be thy way, 
And yet, in His own way, 
The Lord will provide,' 

when the 'back-log' exploded, and threw consternation, 
ashes, live coals, and burning brands, all over the interior 
of the 'domicile of the faithful,' and Seward and Bierman, 
in the excitement and hurry of the moment, and doubtless 
as a matter of convenience, escaped through the roof. 

"I hunted up Crawford, finding him in his bunk; he 
reached for me, and clutching me tightly by the arm 



CAMP-FIRE CHATS OF THE CIVIL WAR. 273 

With one hand, with the other he would stuff the cor- 
ner of the blanket in his mouth, and shake and kick. 
He finally became composed enough to tell me that it 
had been raining all day, and supposing that somebody 
would need a ' back-log,' he had prepared one, and haa 
been careful not to cut it too long ; that with a half-incli 
auger he had bored a half dozen holes in it and charged them 
with powder, and placed it where everybody must pass over 
it, in walking up and down the 'tent-line;' 'and do you 
know,' said he, ' I watched it for four mortal hours, before 
anybody took up with it, and yet every man in the compan\ 
has stepped over it, from one to three times, and I know that 
fully two-thirds of them were out of wood, and too lazy to 
cut any; but at last Bierman carried it in, and he and Sewara 
made a good fire and sat down and began to sing hymns. 
Everything was so quiet that I began to grow restless anc 
uneasy, and concluded to drop in on them and inquire how 
they were getting on; they were very friendly, but somehow 
I couldn't make myself at home, and presently when a piece 
of the bark of the ' back-log' threw the ' fore-stick ' into my 
lap, I told them I guessed I would go, that it was getting 
late, that I had been 'on duty' the night before, and waa 
tired and sleepy; they mentioned that the wood was green 
and popped badly, and I told thera that I had noticed the 
same thing myself; as I was leaving they were re-adjusting 
the » fore-stick ' and sweeping up the litter, but before I gof 
to my tent I heard her go off, and saw them climbing om 
through the top; then I got in my bunk with my boots on, 
and began to snore. I am glad I called on them, for I would 
hate to have them suspect me!! ^"<J again he clutched me by 
the arm and stuffed the blanket in his mouth, and shook and 
kicked. I always thought that Seward suspicioned Crawford 
as in some way connected with his being blown up, and 
Crawford thought so too, for he told me that he noticed 
18 



2/4 CAMP-FIRE CHATS OF THE CIVIL WAR. 

a change in his manner. But in the fight at Mulberry Creek 
Seward had his horse shot under him, and while fooling 
n round trying to save his saddle, a retreat was ordered, and 
the Old man was left behind, nearly ' tuckered out,' and the 
surroundings generally were unpleasant. Crawford went 
back and took him on behind him and got away with him, 
fraternally, as well as physically. When the news reached 
us that Lee and Johnston had surrendered to Grant and 
Sherman, that the Southern Confederacy had collapsed, and 
the war was over, we were inhaling the perfume of the 
magnolia, and a grateful sense of peace took the place of the 
hideous nightmare of civil war that had oppressed us for 
four long terrible years, and all eyes, except Crawford's, 
turned gladly homeward. He alone seemed gloomy and 
despondent, and went about with the air and expression of 
one who had been deeply wronged and injured. I ventured 
to inquire the cause, and he told me that he had prepared a 
series of entertainments for the boys that would consume at 
least a year, and yet the war had been abruptly brought to a 
close, that he had no notice of it, and had not even been con- 
sulted ill the matter, and that he knew the boys would be 
disapDointed. I do not know whether he is still alive or not, 
but if he is living, and his eye should rest upon this brief, 
hasty narrative, I am sure he would not be offended, for two 
reasons: First, because it is literally true, and secondly, 
because there never was and never will be, two more devoted 
frienus rhan we." 




CAMP-FIRE XXV. 



RAW RECRUIT S ANXIETY ANOTHER STORY ABOUI 

ANOTHER MULE ON THE ST. FRANCIS RIVER — A 

GENERAL INCOG. REFUSED A CUP OF COFFEE A CON- 



)S the tones of the previous speaker died away with the 
soft noise of the wind through the branches of the trees 
.,5^ that overliung the glowing embers of the fire, R. C. 
Coyner, of the 38th Indiana, Vol. Inf., remarked: "I haa 
just enlisted from the school-room at Hanover College, near 
Madison, Ind., when we were ordered by General Sherman 
to head off Buckner, who was raiding the northern part O-^ 
Kentucky. We were in company with the Louisville 
Legion, the 6th Indiana, the ist Ohio, and the 15th Indiana 
regulars. We were all raw recruits except the 15th Indiana, 
and knew about as much concerning discipline and drill as so 
many school-boys; nevertheless, we thought ourselves the 
flower of the army. After leaving New Albany, Ind., we 
marched to Louisville, then took the cars to Lebanon 
Junction, and then marched to Elizabethtown, Ky. After we 
reached this point we went into camp. 

" One day Captain Pointdexter, our captain, detailed me 
for detached service, and I was ordered to report at General 
Sherman's headquarters. Upon my arrival I was put in 
command of a squad whose duty was to guard the general's 
quarters. I relieved the guard on duty, and posted my men 
to the best of my ability The day grew apace, and toward 
night General Sherman emerged from his tent and began to 

275 



276 CAMP-FIRE CHATS OF THE CIVIL WAR. 

pace a beat in front, with his hands behind him, and his head 
bent forward, seemingly in a brown study. My inexperience 
and unfamiliarity with the scenes and customs of military 
service rendered me all the more alive to my ideas of a sol- 
dier's duty, and as I beheld our commander pacing to and fro, 
the idea occurred to me that the responsibility of guarding 
our general was one of no mean importance. We had no idea 
of the proximity of the rebel forces, but the night was coming 
on and I began to fear that, in case of a surprise, the guard 
was ill fitted to protect the person of our chieftain. The 
more I thought of it, the more solicitous I felt. 

" At length I concluded that I would ask the general if 
it would not be the proper thing to double the guard about 
the headquarters. 

" Accordingly I stepped up, and after saluting the gen- 
eral, asked: 

" ' General, don't you think it would be a good thing to 
double the guard for the night?' 

" The general looked at me in a surprised sort ot way, and 
said, after a moment's reflection* 

"'What did you say?' 

" ' Don't you think the guard should be doubled for the 
night?' I repeated. 

* Sir, you are drunk!' was the replv that fell upon my 
astonished ears. 

"'General, I mean what I say — you can maka inquiry 
of my colonel and captain as to my habits if you nave any 
doubts as to my sobriety,' I ventured to remark. 

" The general laughed in an amused kind of way, and 
raising his long arm and waving me a curious salute, said : 

" ' Ah, I have been accustomed to having regulars for my 
guard. I do not think there is any use of doubling the guard 
to-night, sir.' 

"The full force of his remark did not dawn upon my 



CAMP-FIRE CHATS OF THE CIVIL WAR 



2>i 



peaceful mind until I had seen more service, but I can assure 
you, boys, that I know now just what he meant." 

Comrade Coyner's anecdote brought a smile to the face 
of every veteran present, and each recalled the first time he 
shouldered his musket and went with a squad of " greenies,'* 
of whom which was the greenest it was hard to tell, to learn 
the drill. 

The smiles were still lingering upon the fire-lit faces, 
when comrade Coyner supplemented his story with the 
following : 

"At the battle of Perry ville, and, by the way, boys, that 
was one of the hottest fights I saw during my three years of 
service, I noticed a mule out in front of our line, and directly 
in the line of fire, quietly grazing. He continued to nibble 
the grass as unconcernedly as though he were a thousand 
miles away from a battlefield. I was wondering at the 
splendid nonchalance of the long-eared beast, when a small 
cannon ball struck him in the upper part of the neck and 
tore a huge hole. The animal staggered a little, and, as if 
unmindful of his hurt, began to graze again," — 

" How big was the ball that hit him?" asked an ex-army 
teamster. 

" Well, I should judge it was a twelve-pound shot, 
judging from th^^ size of the hole it made," replied comrade 
Coyner. 

The audible smiles of those present made the air quiver 
with fun, and the good-natured elves who have always been 
in attendance upon the scribe of the S. P. U. H. during his 
stay at these camp-fires, indulged in a fantastic minuet in 
order to allay their propensity to get into mischief. 

A broad smile irradiated the visage of J. O. Henderson of 
the Soth Ohio, who related the following: 

" We were lying at the mouth of the St. Francis River, a 
small, swiftly -flowing stream which empties into the Missis- 



278 CAMP-FIRE CHATS OF THE CIVIL WAR, 

sippi above Helena, and one afternoon we were detailed to 
board a small stern-wheeled steamer, and go up the river to 
capture some Confederate commissary stores. We got off 
finally, yet we made but little progress, as the river was 
very swift, and our boat ill adapted to stem such a swift 
current. 

" We puffed and wheezed along at a snail-like pace, hug- 
ging the shore, and the night came on. The weaAer was 
misty, and the night pitch dark. We ran out of wood 
and went ashore to get a supply. Having loaded up, we cast 
and swung into the current. After some hours' steaming we 
ran out of wood the second time, and seeing a light on shore, 
hailed it, and asked if we could get wood there. The reply 
being m the affirmative, we landed and again renewed our 
stock of fuel. Again we cast off, and went on our way. 

" Toward morning we were also in need of fuel, and 
hailing another light, arranged to obtain more wood, the 
owner saying as we touched the shore: 

" ' I guess that you can have it at $3.00, bein' as you fel- 
lers have got wood here twice before to-night!' 

" The fact was we had not been over half a mile from 
that wood yard all night long, and when it was light enough 
to see, it was apparent that our vessel could not make any 
progress. We therefore turned around and went back." 

The amanuensis of the S. P. U. H. having made his 
notes of the foregoing, was sharpening his pencil for fur- 
ther work, when a comrade of Smith Hancock of Co. D, 
80th Ohio, narrated this incident: 

" While we were encamped near Farmington, down in 
Mississippi, Smith Hancock had built a fire one morning and 
was cooking his breakfast, when General Hamilton came 
along with a small coffee-pot in his hand, and asked if he 
might make some coffee. 

"'Naw, ye can't!' said Hancock, 



CAMP-FIRE CHATS OF THE CIVIL WAR. 279 

«*Well,' said the general, *I'm half sick, and I want to 
make a cup of coffee. I wont disturb your cooking at all.' 

" * Oh, go to h — 1 and make your coffee,' retorted Hancock. 

"Notwithstanding the protest, the general placed his coffee- 
pot on the fire, when Hancock stepped up and kicked it away 
some twenty feet, and said : 

"'Lookee here, if you try that again, I'll lick h — 1 out of 
you!' 

"'All right,' oaid the new comer, who began to pull ofr 
his coat. 

" As his coat came off, Hancock saw the general's stars, 
and he uttered an expression of surprise and bolted into the 
bushes, as if the Old Nick was after him. We could hen 5 
him crashing through the bushes for three hundred yards. 

" It wasn't ten minutes until the story spread among the 
Doys, and, as it went along, the yell went up, and the progress 
of the yarn could be plainly distinguished along the line. 

" Hancock did not come in for a week, and when he did 
put in an appearance the boys tormented the life nearly out 
of him." 

"Another funny thing occurred down in Vicksburg," said 
a gray-haired man who had listened attentively to all that had 
been said. "Chaplain Howard, of the 42d Ilhnois, approached 
a knot of Confederate prisoners and accosted a long, lean, 
lank specimen, with: 

"*My friend, h^ive you the Gosj. A among you?' 

"'Waal, I can't tell ye, stranger; I dunno nuthin' about 
it here — don't think we've got it, but I hearn that it has broke 
out awful bad down in Camp Douglas!' 

" The Confederate thought the chaplain was talkin<i 
about some disease. 

" As soon as the chaplain recovered from his surprise he 
retreated in good order, and before night-fall the story wa^ 
all over camp." 



CAMP-FIRE XXVI. 

THE SEQUEL TO THE FARMER AND THE WATERMELONS — 
THE UN-WISDOM OF A RAW RECRUIT — A JOKE ON 
THE GENERAL THE TEMPERANCE MAJOR THE CAP- 
TAIN WHO didn't water his WHISKEY. 

cWN August, 1864," said Mr. A. M. Peck, "our regiment 
|n was stationed at Paducah, Ky., and a little incident 
^ occurred there which is similar to one told at the first 
camp-fire. Realizing that the soldiers were often without 
fresh vegetables for weeks at a time, and sometimes without 
any, the citizens frequently brought garden truck, fruit, mel- 
ons, etc., into camp, where such things usually found a ready 
market, especially when the prices were anywhere near 
reasonable. But occasionally there would a fellow come 
along, who had most wonderful ideas of the value of his 
goods, vividly reminding us of the sutler. To pay for the 
privilege of selling to the boys the traders usually took a 
liberal measure to headquarters. 

" One pleasant day the cry of ' Here's yer mule ! ' rang 
through the camp. All the boys were on the alert for some 
fun, if it was to be had. The mule was a small one, 
hitched to a dilapiaated old wagon, with an old skeleton of a 
horse which one would think would need weather-boarding 
to keep the hay that he ate from blowing away. 

'« In the wagon were a few bushels of apples, but from 
their appearance One could never guess what they really 
were; knotty things about the size of green walnuts, black 
and muddy from having lain on. the ground so long before 

a8» 



283 CAMP-FIRE CHATS OF THE CIVIL WAR. 

gathering, and were really unfit for first-class hog-feed. 
In all probability the apples had once been thrown to the 
swine, which had turned away from them, the apple merchant 
then collecting and offering them to the soldiers. He had 
heard that anything eatable could be sold to soldiers at a big 
price, and now expected to make a small fortune. 

" But his hopes soon vanished. The boys gathered around, 
and of course sampled the apples as fast as they could. 
Only a few, however, were fit to be sampled. The driver 
thus saw the choicest (if this adjective is applicable) pieces 
of his fruit rapidly vanishing without any pecuniary return, or 
even promise of such. He at once concluded to make a des- 
perate effort to save what was left, and whipped away at his 
sad-faced donkey and his almost fleshless horse, until first the 
horse and then the donkey began to approach something like 
a trot, as near as could be judged by soldiers who had had 
considerable experience in equestrianism before the war. 
But before the celerity of the team attained the before-men- 
tioned desired gait, the top of a hill was reached, which 
achievement, however, was made after a certahi other event 
took place, namely: The boys kept even pace with the wagon, 
and also kept abstracting apples therefrom until the vehicle 
had been dragged nearly to the top of the hill, when, by 
some sleight-of-hand, one of the boys slipped out the hind 
gate of the wagon box, and, sad to tell, the countryman's 
apples, severally and collectively, suddenly retreated and 
were captured by a large number of soldiers, who were in the 
reserve, while the driver, now finding it easy to persuade the 
mule and the horse to proceed faster on account of the down 
grade, — looked not back, but accepted the result, sadly con- 
cluding that there was great falsehood in the rumor he had 
heard about such high prices being obtained from soldiers foi 
such a low grade of fruit." 

Mr. W. B. Cowan then said that he remembered an 



CAMP-FIRE CHATS OF THE CIVIL WAR. 283 

incident about raw recruits, « while on the march to Atlanta, 
that created fun for us soldiers. 

« As was our custom, we had halted along the road for a 
tew minutes' rest, and as soon as the * Halt' was sounded every 
fellow immediately tumbled down into a fence corner, or 
where the fence corner should have been, in order to get all 
the rest possible before the * Forward' was sounded. All the 
old regiments at that time had received a good many new 
recruits, and they had not become acustomed to old soldiers' 
ways. When we would halt for a rest, new recruits would be 
passing frequently, to catch up with their regiments. You 
could always recognize one of them by the load he carried — 
a big knapsack with a change of clothes, a blanket or two, 
and almost always with the bayonet on his gun. We halted 
one warm day away down in Georgia, and one of those re- 
cruits, with an unusual big load on his back, and a new, bright 
bayonet on his gun, came dragging himself along, when one 
of the old boys in our regiment, a droll wag of a fellow, raised 
up on his elbow, took a good long look at the recruit, and 
said: 'Hello, soldier!' The fellow stopped. 'Where did 
you git that gun sharpened?' The fellow could make no 
answer. It raised a yell that did not die out until the recruit 
had gone out of sight." 

The drum major of the 72d Illinois Infantry, Mr. Edward 
B. Potter, then said, that ''immediately after tlie fight at 
Franklin, Tenn., (I have forgotten the date), the supplies 
were, for some unknow^n reason, slow in coming — so much 
so, that our regiment was fed on roasted corn for about fi\e 
days. Of course some of the boys objected, and cursed the 
government for not having better food ready for them at the 
proper time; but they composed a very small per cent. The 
great majority laughed and chatted, taking it all in good fun, 
and watched their opportunity to play a joke on the general. 
After a few days ot corn rations, and immediately after 



284 CAMP-FIRE CHATS OF THE CIVIL WAR. 

breakfast one morning, an orderly sergeant of one of the 
companies took a rope and tying six or eight of the comrades 
in a string, started down the road. Wondering what on 
earth the sergeant meant, the astonished general rode up and 
inquired : 

"'What in (Hades) is the matter here? What have 
these men done, sir, that they should be treated in this 
manner ? ' 

" ' Well, general, said the sergeant, with a very guilty 
look, as if he had really assumed the authority to punish the 
boys for some supposed wrong, — ' well, general, I have just 
fed my mules their corn, and am now taking them down to 
water.' 

"* Ha! ha! ha!' burst from all who could hear the remark, 
which, indeed, was loud enough. 

"' Sold again!' said the general, who kindly saluted them 
and rode off." 

" As short stories seem to be in order, here is one," 
remarked a comrade from the East, a guest at the camp-fire. 

" In the fall of '64 the artillery brigade to which I was 
attached, was under the command of a major from Maine, 
who had unfortunately departed from the tem^Derance princi- 
ples for which that State has for so many years been noted. 
It was my misfortune for a time to have charge of the whis- 
key at the headquarters, to which the major's brigade was 
attached, and many laughable incidents occurred, one of 
which comes back fresh to my mind on the present occasion. 

" In anticipation of his birthday, and a celebration with 
friends, as I surmised, the major, the day previous to that an- 
niversary, rode up to headquarters and accosting me by name, 
inquired how much whiskey I had on hand, 

" Not thinking our supply of stimulant needed in the 
direction mentioned, the major already being far too much 
under its influence, I evaded a true statement, and replied: 



CAMP-FIRE CHATS OF THE CIVIL WAR. 285 

« < Only a small quantity, major.' 

"Not satisfied, he again put the question in the same 
thick, unsteady voice before used. This time, still wishing to 
convey the idea of a very limited quantity, I answered : 

" ' I may have about two gallons.' 

« The major straightened iiimself up as best he could 
and, with a most disappointed and disdainful look, exclaimed : 

"'What is, hie, two gallons of whiskey among one man!' 
and slowly rode away. 

"And let me tell you in this connection about the captain, 
having charge of the commissary department at the head- 
quarters of the corps lying next to ours, who did not water 
his whiskey, 

" Riding upon one occasion with several fellow officers to 
our headquarters, they all dismounted and came in, as they said 
to sample our whiskey. I immediately set before them the 
best we had, which was considered a fair article for army use. 

" But the captain, after imbibing, declared it to be very 
thin and badly watered (a statement containing more truth 
than poetry), and invited us to ride over to his corps where 
we should be furnished with the ' simon pure ' article, which 
we could water to suit ourselves. 

" The invitation was at once accepted, as good whiskey 
was very scarce at that time, and no opportunity was allowed 
to pass unaccepted by those accustomed to the beverage, 

" On arriving at his quarters a fresh barrel was tapped, a 
measure drawn off, and the glasses filled. I noticed some- 
'liiing peculiar in my glass, and while the captain was calling 
attention to the fact that his whiskey was not watered, I ex- 
tracted from the contents of the glass given me a little dead 
fish about an inch in length, which had doubtless come from 
the brook that flowed at the rear of the captain's commissary 
tent, and holding it up to the gaze of all just as he concluded 
his remarks, I asked* 



iS6 



CAMP-FIRE CHATS OF THE CIVIL WAR 



«' Do you suppose such a specimen as this to be contained 
m all pure Bourbon from Kentucky, captain? ' 

"The look of consternation that overspread his face 
can better be imagined than described, and he never after 
boasted the superior purity and strength of his whiskey over 
i-.hat of others." 




CAMP-FIRE XXVIl. 

HOME ON A FURLOUGH A PREMONITION OF DEATH- 
HOURS OF PERIL. 

jjl^URLOUGHS," said one present, who had taken a very 
vjl^ active part in the home end of the war, " reminds me of 
'-^ an experience of John Curry, who came home in the 
spring of 1864, I think, for a short rest. He had been gone 
three years, in which time he became inured to the customs 
of army hfe, and was indeed a splendid example of how a man 
may change nearly his entire life, especially his every -day 
habits and his health, simply by change of surroundings, — 
provided these are at all favorable, and he "adapts himself to 
them. 

" Mr. Curry had been home only a few days when 1 called 
to congratulate him on his safe return. His description of 
camp-life and recollection of incidents then fresh in his 
memory, seemed almost endless, but were none the less inter- 
esting. I sat with my mouth and eyes open for two and a 
half hours, or longer, and listened with all possible attention. 

" I accepted a second invitation to come around again in the 
afternoon, and was there promptly. 

" The happy face of Mrs. Curry welcomed me at the door. 
Her voice, I noticed, still had the accent of the Fatherland, as 
she invited me in and told me that she did not like to arouse 
her husband, who was then asleep and needed all the rest he 
could get. She then entertained me by telling how different 
her husband seemed 'since he vas in dzhe war,' particularly 
as regarded his food. Pork and beans were very relishable 

287 



288 CAMP-FIRE CHATS OF THE CIVIL WAR, 

to him now, but three years previous he could eat nothing but 
the best of beefsteak; she said corn-meal cakes were better 
than pastry, and coffee with cream and sugar in it was not fit 
to drink, he thought. She hardly knew how to prepare any- 
thing for his taste. He had undergone another radical change; 
he would not sleep in a bed, but when the sunshine was warm 
enough would take two rails, place them about a foot apart, 
with one end of each resting on the yard fence and the othet- 
ends on the ground, then lie down on the slant thus formed, 
and sleep for two or three hours. He was now sleepmg on 
the floor in the adjoining room, and she asked me to step 
in and see how comfortable he looked. I did so, and indeed, 
he was the personification of comfort. 

" It recurred to my mind that if some of the chronic 
growlers from general debility would shoulder a musket for 
a few months, or engage in some similar occupation as trying 
to the body, thereby creating the demand upon the stomach 
for food, there would be less dyspepsia and grumbling, and 
more health and happiness. 

"'Schon! Schon!!' called Mrs. Curry, wit!h her usual 
accent, now concluding that her husband had slept long 
enough. But John did not awaken. The same deep, con- 
tented breathings were still regularly drawn. 

" ' Schon! Schon! ' she called again, but could not arouse 
him. 

" ' Let me show you how to wake him,' I suggested, at the 
same time telling her that as he had not heard his first name 
called for three years he had probably failed to recognise the 
sound, especially when he was asleep. 

" « All right,' she replied. 

" ' To arms! ' I said sharply, and John bounded to his feet 
so suddenly, with a motion of shouldering arms, that both of 
us were startled. After comprehending the situation he 
rubbed his nose and eyes, then, after a little explanation on 
my part, we were again talking over old time experiences." 



CAMP-FIRE CHATS OF THE CIVIL WAR. 289 

Mr. Bailey then gave this reminiscence ofa death presenti- 
ment to a comrade at the battle of Fredericksburg: 

*' It was the night before the battle that six of us, all of 
Company H, stretched our weary limbs under the warm cover 
of an A tent to get rest and strength for the struggle on the 
morrow. The evening before had witnessed the close of the 
bombardment of Fredericksburg, and the day had been occu- 
pied by the crossing of the Union Army over the Rappahan- 
nock, and the usual marches and counter marches requii^ite 
to getting into position. Our army lay in the open plain 
which intervened between the south bank of the river and the 
range of mountains back of the city, both flanks resting on 
the river, with the center pushed forward about a mile and a 
half, forming an oval line three or four miles long. Our posi- 
tion in the line was the right center of the left grand division, 
commanded by Major-General Franklin. In the wooded 
hills in front, blue with the smoke of camp-fires, lay the rebel 
army in ominous silence watching our every movement, and 
quietly waiting for the battle sure to come with the dawn of 
another day. In our immediate front lay the corps of Stone- 
wall Jackson, with whom we had measured strength on 
several previous occasions, and with whom we were again to 
dispute for the possession of the natural fortifications of which 
they had taken advantage. The cavalry, artillery and mfantry 
had been placed in position, and our patriotic commander, 
General Burnside, had ridden along the whole line at the 
close of the day to personally inspect the entire position. 
Already the darkening shades of the clear, cool, December 
night, was hushing into silence the two great armies, and the 
twinkling stars vv^ere looking down upon the fatal plains so 
soon to be filled with dead and mangled men. 

" Our suppers had been finished, pipes smoked, tents pitched, 
and we prepared for our last sleep before the battle. Our 
gallant Captain Carle, a regular army soldier, had been 
19 



2QO CAMP-FIRE CHATS OF THE CIVIL WAR. 

wounded at second Bull Run ; was not yet fit for duty, though 
he had accompanied us for the purpose of seeing- the battle ; 
Lieutenant Pratt, recently married to a young and lovely girl, 
had returned from a furlough home only a few weeks before,and 
was temporarily in command of the company; Jack Gibney, 
he whose skillful hands prepared the salt horse and coffee for 
all hands; Jimmy Moore and Hobart Ripley, noble, generous 
hearted boys as ever carried a musket, and the writer, lay 
down that night together under the only A tent of which our 
company could boast, and were soon wrapped in peaceful 
slumber. And yet all did not sleep that night. About mid- 
night I felt a pull at my elbow, and rousing up saw Lieutenant 
Pratt bending over me, motioning for me to come out of the 
tent without disturbing our sleeping comrades. We had been 
warm friends and next door neighbors for years before enter- 
ing the army, and I thought I had for some days detected a 
shade of sadness in his countenance, and 'more than once had 
found him engrossed in melancholy thought, but I had at- 
tributed it to the fact that his mind was on the wife and friends 
he had so recently left behind him. We walked out to the 
dying embers of the fire and sat down for some moments 
without speaking; he probably thinking whether or not it 
would be better to tell what was on his mind, and I waiting 
to hear. 

" At last, with deep feeling, he said : 

" 'F — , I have had a premonition of death. Six weeks ago, 
while on my way from home, I stopped in Washington over 
Sunday, and on Sunday evening attended church. When I 
crossed the threshold of the church the gas lights dimmed, 
and then recovered their usual brightness. The presentiment 
came to me in a moment, that I should be killed in the next 
battle, and I have not been able to overcome it since. I feel as 
certain, as that you and 1 are here, that I shall be killed ^o- 



CAMP-FIRE CHATS OF THE CIVIL WAK. 29I 

" I tried with the best argument I could to dissuade him 
from the idea, and to show him the fallacy of tracing any con- 
nection between a thing which he had so often seen and was 
of such common occurrence in his own life. But argument 
was useless, and he seemed as sure of his death as though it 
were a positive certainty. I knew that he was morally and 
jDhysically a brave man, and his deeply religious soul would 
have rebelled against anything like superstition, so that his 
feelings could not be attributed to cowardice, or a desire to 
shirk the dangers before us; besides, he had been tried on 
hard-fought fields, and proved true as steel. With him the 
idea was a wrought conviction admitting no doubt, and I 
pitied him from the bottom of my heart; though not a 
believer in presentiments, I could not feel with him that his 
death was a foregone conclusion. After an hour's conversa- 
tion on the subject we again retired ; he to a sleepless prepara- 
tion for the death of which he felt so sure, I to indulge in 
selfish slumber. 

" With the first breath of dawn we were aroused to eat a 
hearty breakfast and fall into line. A dense fog covered the 
whole plain, and we moved cautiously forward, unable to see 
more than a few yards. Soon a skirmish line encountered 
the rebel pickets, who promptly fell back after a few shots. 
A halt was called, and our division, the old Pennsylvania 
Reserves, received orders to unsling knapsacks, and we knew 
we had been selected to make the charge on the left. Moving 
forward we were placed in close column by brigades, in sup- 
port of a battery, and ordered to lie down. The rising sun 
soon cleared away the fog and revealed our line of battle face 
to face with the enemy who were concealed in the woods 
about 600 yards distant. Then the dogs of war were let loose, 
and the several batteries along our line began to pay their re- 
spects to the enemy, who answered the compliment with 
vigoi. The solid shot from the enemy's right raked our lines 



292 CAMP-FIRE CHATS OF THE CIVIL WAR. 

from left to right, while spherical case, screeching through the 
clear morning air from the front, exploded over our heads. 
Our regiment, which lay in the front line, suffered very little, 
but the regiment of new troops in our rear lost severely, in 
one instance a solid shot sweeping seven men out of a single 
company. The position was one of constant suspense to men 
compelled to lie idle, waiting to see where the next shot would 
strike. Activity, even in much greater peril, would have been 
infinitely preferable. Through all this trying ordeal Pra'.t 
kept his self-possession and strove only to do his duty, though 
no one but myself knew the deep and silent agony he was 
struggling to conceal. 

" At last, to our relief, we were ordered to fix bayonets and 
charge. Never did the gallant 6th keep a straighter line on 
a dress parade than it did while charging across the6ooyar.lA 
of open field which lay between us and the enemy. The rai - 
road which ran along the skirt of the woods was the point :!t 
which we were to stop, but finding the position untenable by 
reason of a battery which swept the track, we entered the 
woods and kept after the enemy, whose first line was broken 
and now in full retreat, mowing a track the width of the di- 
vision through the rebel lines. A lull occurring in the firing';', 
Pratt again approached me, and leading the way a few pacc>. 
to the rear, said, with a voice choking with emotion: 

" ' I shall never leave these woods alive. I am going to 
meet death here this afternoon. If you get out alive, I want 
you to tell Jennie I was prepared for death, and that my la>t 
thoughts were of duty to her, my country, and my God.' 

" I was deeply impressed with his earnestness, and begged 
him to go to the rear out of danger, but of no avail. He felt 
he was going to die, and he would meet a soldier's death as a 
soldier should. 

" ' Forward,' came the order along the line, and with a 
hasty 'Good-bye' and 'God bless you,' we sprang to our 



CAMP-FIRE CHATS OP THE CIVIL WAR. 293 

places to encounter the rapidly forming lines of our encmy''s 
fresh reinforcements. 

" That was the last time I ever saw Pratt. The straggling 
shots deepened into that loud, monotonous roll, and the stray 
whiz of the minie ball changed into that storm of leaden hail 
when sounds lose their individuaUty, denoting the desperate 
nature of battle. A sharp twinge in m \^ shoulder gave me a 
ticket to the rear, and I left the boys still pressing forward. 
For five mortal hours the old Pennsylvania Reserves kept 
their faces to the foe, unrelieved and unsupported, while 
thousands of fresh troops were l3'ing in the rear behind 
stacked arms. But it is useless to dilate upon the errors and 
jealousies among generals, which lost that battle to the North 
at the expense of 13,000 brave men, for the results at all points 
of the line were alike disastrous. Night mercifully put an end 
to the slaughter, and the lines were reformed near where we 
started in the morning. 

" With great anxiety I sought out our company, witl 
several others who had been wounded, to learn how it ha<l 
fared with the rest of the boys. Out of the six who had slept 
together the night before, five went into the battle, twj of 
whom were killed, and two wounded. Almost the las/ man 
killed was poor Pratt, struck in the forehead with a minie 
ball. He never spoke afterward, and the boys being hard 
pressed, were reluctantly compelled to leave his body where 
he fell. His presentiment was no idle tale. His prediction 
proved as true as he felt it to be, and was carried out. in all its 
terrible reality. With the flickering gas in the church at 
Washington the light of his life went out in the fullness of the 
undying fame due to the dead heroes of the war for the 
Union. Among the serried hosts of immortal spirits which 
are gathering in silent array on the battlements of heaven, he 
rests with the coveted crown inscribed ' Faithful urito death.' *' 

Immediately as the last speaker finished, George W. Scott 



294 CAMP-FIRE CHATS OF THE CiViL WAR. 

of the Illinois, narrated the following, which brought so 

vividly to the minds of his listeners the desperate ordeals of 
the long ago that more than one present drew a long breath 
and felt for the moment a sudden rush of the old feeling 
when death stared every one in the face. 

" It was at the battle of that we were ordered to 

charge a line of the enemy's works. We were the third line 
of battle. Just beyond a small stream lined with willows the 
enemy were strongly entrenched, and heavily supported by 
artillery. From where we lay, the ground, which was clear 
and open, sloped gently to the stream, and the guns of the 
enemy could be distinctly seen a few hundred yards on the 
other side of the willows. 

" The order was given, and the boys ahead of us gallantly 
charged over the open ground and endeavored to pass the ob- 
structions at the creek, formed by stakes and interlaced 
willows. Immediately a sharp fire was poured into them 
from the works beyond. 

" The first line staggered and almost recoiled, when they 
were hurried on by the second line w^iich cameup just behind 
them. The fire from the enemy became hotter and hotter, 
and men dropped on every side, but the impetus of the second 
line carried them down into the creek, where partial shelter 
was aflforded by the low bank. 

" At this juncture the order was given to follow and charge 
the works, and we started down the slope at double quick. 

" The musketry and guns poured an avalanche of death 
among us, and before we had gone over half the space the 
ground was strewn with the wounded and the dead. It was 
a terrible moment. The shells howled through our ranks, 
and bursting overhead and upon the ground, filled the air 
with flying fragments, which, with the bullets, made fearful 
havoc. 

"In less time than it takes to tell it, we had traversed the 



CAMP-FIRE CHATS OF THE CIVIL WAR. 295 

open grouna and had reached the willows. We found these 
a serious obstruction, and, in face of the terrible fire, they were 
almost impassable. Our line was in confusion and nearly 
demoralized, and as we were about to fall back, the order was 
shouted, to lie down, and take shelter in the creek. 

'' As we lay there with but half of our bodies protected, 
the enemy increased their efforts to dislodge us by sending a 
veritable hail of missiles. 

" The minie balls and buckshot fell upon the ground in 
an incessant shower. Cannon balls plowed up the ground 
and begrimed us with earth, while above the air quivered 
with the uninterrupted passage of lead and iron. From various 
parts of our line where sufficient shelter was afforded, our boys 
kept up as rapid a fire as possible, but from where I lay the 
bank was so low that to raise an arm or head meant a wound 
or certain death. The man who lay next to me ventured to 
look at the enemy's works, when he was struck by a shot that 
(jompletely severed his head from his body. 

" In our struggle to capture the position our colors were 
shot down three times. The last man who carried the flag 
gained a position behind a tall stump, and three different times 
the stump was struck by cannon balls and cut partly away. 
It became too dangerous a place, and the brave fellow held up 
the colors while he lay flat upon the ground. 

" This situation of things remained the same until night 
came on, when we were enabled to crawl down the bed of 
the creek under cover of darkness. In the morning a flank 
movement drove the enemy out of their works, and we occu- 
pied the position." 



CAMP-FIRE XXVIII. 

DINNIS m'gINLEY as THE " SECRETARY OF WAR " MART 

m'cOY and the general HOW THE I5TH CORPS CAME 

BY ITS BADGE THE ROMANCE THAT A SPENT BALL 

BROUGHT ABOUT HOW WHEELER's CAVALRY GOT SOME 

CORN MEAL SENSATIONS UPON SEEING A COMRADE 

KILLED BY A BULLET. 

olfT is a well-known fact that the imaginative faculty is 
M more active after night-fall than during the day, and that 
^ fire-liglit has the peculiar influence of stimulating memory. 
The association of glowing embers and burning brands with 
the unwritten history of " the late unpleasantness" is the cause 
of these pages. The well-remembered appearance of the 
hastily-made fire with the old familiar camp-kettle slung over 
the blaze, instantly recalls a score of events which have 
almost staggered out of sight down the aisle of the past. 

It seemed to be so as the old-time soldiers gathered about 
the crackling sticks this evening, for, with every snap of 
some withering twig as it was consumed and slowly changed 
into smoke and heat, some one present recollected a story. A 
feeling of bonho7nic lent its cheer, and a spirit of jovial com- 
panionship reigned in the circle. 

An uproar of laughter in a group across from the medita- 
tive scribe of the S. P. U. H. arrested the attention of all, and 
it was immediately decreed that the cause of the hilarity 
should be exposed for the edification of every one. It was 
discovered that Capt. Fred. Maxwell., of the 3d N. Y. 

296 



CAMP-FIRE CHATS OF THE CIVIL WAR, 297 

Cavalry, had « spun a yarn," and accordingly he was invited 
to repeat it. 

" Well, boys, if I must, I must, I suppose, and I will nar- 
rate one of the funniest incidents that I ever observed. The 
long years that separate to-night from the days when we 
followed the Stars and Stripes to ' the front ' have not dimmed 
its humor for me, in the least. It occurred when we were 
near Poolesville, Md. 

" At ' retreat roll-call,' one day. Captain McNamara, a 
son of the Emerald Isle, was the * officer of the day.' Ac- 
cordingly he went to the ' guard house' to inspect the guard. 
A member of Company F was one of their number, and 
Captain McNamara knew him almost as well as he did him- 
self. One by one the boys were inspected, and the member 
from Company F came in turn. The captain found his 
cartridge box minus ammunition, and in its stead numerous 
letters. There were not forty rounds of powder and ball in 
it, but dozens of letters. Instantly the captain's face assumed 
the grim expression of outraged discipline. 

"*Shtep three paces in fhront!' commanded the captain, 
and the order was obeyed. 

" The captain looked at him in a curious, questioning way, 
and then went to the guilty soldier and scrutinized his 
cartridge box with great care. Walking slowly around him, 
he inspected every accoutrement zealously. Then, in a 
severe tone, he asked: 

"' An' phat moight be yer name?' 

" ' Dinnis McGinley, sur! ' 

" Again the captain went around the man and looked into 
the misused cartridge box, and turning to its owner, he re- 
peated : 

" ' An' phat did ye say was yer name?' 

" ' Dinnis McGInle}^, sur! ' 

"Pointing at the letters, the captain ejaculated upon the 



298 CAMP-FIRE CHATS OF THE CIVIL WAR. 

heels of the reply to his question, with an astonishing look 
of surprise: 

" ' By me sowl, oi thought ye was the Secretary of 
War!'" 

As the merriment subsided somewhat, Lieut. S. M. 
Witt, of the loth Indiana, followed with these remarks: 

" We had a droll kind of a character in our regiment by 
the name of Mart McCoy, who had formed the habit of say- 
ing, on all occasions, both appropriate and inappropriate, 
'Halt! d— n you, halt!' 

" We had just been mustered in at Camp Morton, In- 
dianapolis, Ind., and were about as green a set of recruits as 
any rendezvous had the fortune, or misfortune, to see during 
the war. Our captain had been an old Mexican soldier, and 
we thought that he was the only one in camp who knew any- 
thing about tactics, and it was currently believed that we 
were not obliged to obey any officer but our leader. Captain 
Kice. 

" We were sent to Rich Mountain, and soon were 
marched to where we had work to perform, and were treated 
to our first experience under fire. 

" We had been ordered to lie down, and in order to escape 
the bullets, we had taken shelter behind the brow of a hill. 

" While lying upon the ground. General R happened 

to pass along the line, and ordered firing to cease. Mart 
McCoy was lying upon his back holding his gun in a per- 
pendicular position, muzzle upward, and was inadvertently 
playing with the lock of the weapon. Just as the general 
was passing by, McCoy's piece Was accidentally discharged, 
and so near the general that the report startled him. ' 

" As soon as the general recovered himself, he clutched 
McCoy by the collar, administered a forcible reproof for the 
apparent violation of orders, in the way of shaking him and 
asking, in a severe manner, if he meant to obey the com- 



CAMP-FIRE CHATS OF THE CIVIL WAR. 299 

mands of his officers. As the shaking process was going on, 
McCoy was ever and anon the recipient of several not very 
gentle applications of boot leather. Yet, notwithstanding 
the rough handling he was receiving, McCoy managed to 
gasp out: 

"'Halt! d— you, halt!' 

" The general loosened his hold and looked at McCoy in 
astonishment. McCoy, realizing that, for his manner of ad- 
dressing a superior officer, he was liable to punishment, im- 
mediately vanished down the hill, followed by the guffaws of 
his comrades." 

It will be remembered that certain army corps were 
designated by different badges, such as stars, acorns, etc., etc., 
and Capt. H. B. Reed, of the 129th Illinois, said the way that 
the 15th Corps of Sherman's army came by its badge occurred 
in this wise: 

" One night some of the boys had built a log fire, and 
were enjoying its genial warmth, when they were joined 
by an Irish soldier. He was hailed by: 

"'Hello! Where are ye from? What corps do ye be- 
long to, Paddy, and what's yer badge?' 

"'Me badge?' 

'" Yes— what's yer badge?' 

" ' Me badge, did ye say ?' 

"'Yes, d — you; what kind of a badge does yer corps 
wear?' 

"' Arrah, ye insultin' blackgarruds, oi belong to the 15th 
Corps,' and turning around and showing his cartridge box, 
'an' this, wid 100 rounds, is me badge!' 

" The incident was reported to headquarters, and as the 
15th Corps had not received its badge. General Logan de- 
clared that a cartridge box with the number '100' upon it 
should designate them, and the order was carried into effect." 

Among the myriad of incidents which happened daily 



300 CAMP-FIRE CHATS OF THE CIVIL WAR. 

along the lines, many of which are stranger than the mar- 
velous events traced upon pages of fiction, one told by Oscar 
F. Avery, corporal in the nth Michigan, seems like a portion 
of a play upon the stage wherein the finale is made to come 
out just right for the hero. 

Corporal Avery said : " It was at the battle of Stone 
River, early in the morning, that our regiment was lined up 
at right angles with the main line, and while standing in this 
position a comrade at my side, by the name of Robert 
Thomas, was struck just above the eye by a spent ball. He 
sank to the ground, and several of us placed him in as com- 
fortable a position as possible, and were ministering to him the 
best we could under the circumstances, when we were 
ordered to form a part of the main line. This took us away 
from the prostrate form of Thomas, who lay beside a tree, 
apparently breathing his last breath. 

" After the second day's battle I was detailed to look after 
our wounded. I searched for my comrade, Thomas, but 
could find no trace of him. We supposed that he had died, 
and been buried by the rebels. 

" Nearly a year afterward, in 1863, while we were march- 
ing across to Bridgeport, with our line of battle extending 
a distance of thirty-two miles, who should rush out of the 
bushes and into the arms of the boys of his own company, 
but Robert Thomas! 

" He told us his history from the day of the battle of 
Stone River, and we learned that he was taken prisoner 
while lying under the tree where we had left him. He laid 
in a hospital for nine months, and after recovering suffi- 
ciently so as to be able to move about, he took an opportunity 
to board a train with one of two regiments who were being 
transferred, and by saying that he belonged to the regiment 
just ahead, he arrived at the front, and, taking French leave • 
of his train, he slipped through the pickets, stumbled upon 



CAMP-FIRE CHATS OF THE CIVIL WAR. 30I 

US, and fell in with his old company, after being gone almost 
a year, and not naving seen during that time a Union 
soldier, nor the Stars and Stripes." 

Captain Reed asked if we had heard how he ground corn 
all night for some of Wheeler's rebel cavalry. 

We responded in the negative, and when about to insist 
upon having the particulars of the incident related, a member 
of the captain's company, who helped do the grinding, said: 

" Captain, tell the boys about our grinding that corn for 
Wheeler's cavalry! " 

" Well," said the captain, " I was in command of a 
foraging party during our ' March to the Sea,' and one after- 
noon it happened that we came across an old corn mill. We 
concluded to gather some corn from the surrounding barns 
and grind it. We collected a large quantity, and in a little 
while had the old mill doing its best. Having no sacks, we 
took dresses and skirts that we found in a deserted dwelling, 
and by tying up the ends of them, soon had a goodly num- 
ber v-»f serviceable sacks. 

" We kept the old mill going till toward morning, and 
had about finished our job. We had slung some of our im- 
provised sacks across the backs of our mules, and were 
engaged in filling others and preparing for departure, when 
our pickets rushed in and reported rebel cavalry coming 
down the road. 

" We rushed to our guns, but before we could use them, a 
volley from the enemy's carbines rattled through the mill, 
and a chorus of yells stampeded our mules. 

" In less time than it can be told, our little party had scat- 
tered, and our mules were flying in all directions. Some of 
them strewed meal over the fields for miles, and the way 
feminine apparel was distributed was ludicrous to behold. 

" The early morning air was filled with meal, shots, 
curses, brays, flying petticoats and yells. Confusion reigned 
supreme, and bedlam was outrivaled. 



302 CAMP-FIRE CHATS OF THE CIVIL WAR. 

" It is needless to say that we made ourselves scarce, and 
with the exception of two or three who were captured, we 
gained our camp in safety. We had lost our corn meal, but 
we thought ourselves lucky to have escaped being taken 
prisoners and sent to Andersonville." 

Probably thousands of readers will remember their feelings 
upon seeing, for the first time, a comrade struck lifeless. 
Such sensations are always remembered, and the impressions 
then received are invariably carried to the grave. Powerful 
as such events were in causing emotion, their rapid and 
familiar occurrence dulled their horror, and lessened their 
repulsiveness. The dread and sickening loathing created by 
many a corpse on a battlefield, is by familiarity and constant 
view transformed into a stoical indifference. Were this not so, 
the awful carnage of some battles would have made deserters 
of thousands of soldiers. 

Sergt. J. H. Goff, of the 129th Illinois, told the effect 
of seeing a soldier shot dead, and said: 

" It was at the battle of Resaca, Ga., that I beheld, for 
the first time, the death of a soldier by a gun-shot. He was 
standing about twenty feet in front of me in the next line of 
battle, and just as I happened to glance at him he was struck 
in the neck by a musket ball. He let fall his gun and 
dropped, turning toward me as he fell, and as he did so, by a 
convulsive movement of the muscles of his throat his tongue 
was forced out of his mouth to its utmost extent. 

" A sickening shudder involuntarily passed over me at the 
fearful sight. A feeling of great sympathy and pity welled 
up in my heart for the poor fellow, and I longed to go to him 
and take him in my arms, minister to his wants, and seek to 
ease his pain. My attention was then attracted to the enemy 
by their rapid fire and by the humming of their bullets above 
us, and as I realized that it was by one of their bullets that 
the poor boy in front of me had met his death, a savage desire 



CAMP-FIRE CHATS OF THE CIVIL WAR. 303 

for revenge and retaliation drowned out the finer emotions 
which had just filled my breast, and I was eager to put my 
desire into execution. I clutched my gun with firm fingers, 
and with every muscle steady, and every nerve calm, my 
whole mind was concentrated in my determination to avenge 
the death of the man who lay upon the ground cold in death. 
In a few minutes I found myself loading and firing as rapidly 
as possible, and during the subsequent movements of the 
regiment I forgot, for the time, the death of the soldier." 

The recital of Sergeant Goflf caused the faces of all to 
assume lines of gravity and sadness, and it was plainly ap- 
parent that this incident had awakened in the minds of each 
memory of war's most horrible phases, and an oppressive 
silence pervaded the camp. 

It was some time before the usual flow of good-natured 
spirits resumed its course, and after several more stories the 
motion to adjourn was decided to be in order, and ere long 
the camp-fire was a smoldering heap of ashes. 



CAMP-FIRE XXIX. 

THE TRUTH ABOUT THE CAPTURE OF THE GUERILLA 

CHIEFTAIN, JOHN MORGAN AUDACIOUS AUDACITY 

THE LAST PLANK OF THE SHIP OF STATE. 

fG. BIRCHFIELD,of the 13th Tennessee cavalry, said: 
" There have been several letters published claiming 
^ to describe Morgan's death, but I have never yet seen 
one which came anywhere near the truth of the affair. I was 
one of those who, when the shadow of war darkened the en- 
tire land, lived in the Sunny South; but having been raised by 
one of those truly loyal men, one who loved his whole coun- 
try, and whose father had fought at King's Mountain, and, 
moreover, being in that truly patriotic section of Southeast 
Tennessee, whose loyal sons fought on every battle-field, I 
could not be otherwise than true to my country in that sad 
hour. So I have had my share of the hardships and fun, and 
the incident to which I refer was one of the perilous ones. 

" It was in Greenville, Penn., Sept, 4, 1864. We had 
been encamped at Bull's Gap, sixteen or eighteen miles west 
of there, for four or five days, and about midnight on the 
third we were aroused and ordered to saddle up. It was pitch 
dark, and the lightning played around the clouds as we 
marched out east of the gap and across the country southeast, 
until we struck the old Newport road. Then we turned east 
toward Greenville, when the rain began to fall in torrents. 
When within two miles of Greenville, just before daybreak, 
we learned that the Confederate pickets were posted in an old 
house one mile ahead. 



CAMP-FIRE CHATS OF THE CIVIL WAR. 305 

« Colonel Ingerton ordered two companies to the right 
through the woods and fields. They got between the re- 
serve pickets and town, and the rest of the regiments closed 
in on them. We took them without a shot, and then 
marched to within about three-fourths of a mile of Greenville, 
when Colonel Ingerton ordered Company G to take the road 
toward town. Captain Wilcox commanded the company. 
The rest of the regiment were formed in line across Blue 
Spring road, facing the west. 

*' Captain Wilcox marched up the top of a hill to the 
west of town, and into the main street, and halted ; then rode 
forward to where he could see from end to end of the main 
street, and it seemed to me, in the gray of the morning, that 
the street was alive with men. The Johnnies getting in late 
the night before, had camped in the street, and on the rising 
ground to the east. Captain Wilcox ordered the company 
to ' Forward march i Trot! Charge! ' and in an instant we 
were among the Johnnies, some of whom were still wrapped 
in the embrace of Morpheus on the sidewalk. When they 
were roused by the yells and firing, they left hats, guns, 
blankets, horses and all, and jumped over fences, darted 
through doorways, and into stores, and around buildings; and 
in fact, there was general confusion, forty-four boys in blue 
being mixed up with one or two thousand Johnnies who 
were running in every direction. We did not even stop to 
take prisoners of those who wouid throw up their hands, but 
dashed through the main street to within one or two hundred 
yards of their battery, which we could see was making ready 
to give us a welcome, Lieut. John M. Wilcox, John Turner 
and Sol. Turner, John Humphrey and eight or ten others 
made a dash for the battery, which fired one shot. This from 
bad range or some other cause, struck a church; but the boys 
went for those guns and drove the rebels away, and captured 
them 5 biit since they could not remove them, they left the 



30f^ CAMP-FIRE CHATS OF THE CIVIL WAR. 

guns and joined the company in town, where we were em- 
ployed in picking up Johnnies. 

" I rode up to the hotel, where I was acquainted with Mrs. 
Col. David Fry, the noted bridge-burner and Union scout. 
She was standing on the porch. I said, ' Good-morning, Aunt 
Catherine.' She was very much excited and replied, ' Gen- 
eral Morgan is in that brick house at the rear, and you must 
take him.' I galloped to where Captain Wilcox was stand- 
ing near the church east of the hotel, and told him of the 
vicinity of General Morgan. There were fifteen or twenty 
men with Wilcox. He ordered them to surround the block, 
which they did. In a very short time Andrew Campbell 
went to the west side of the block, near a stable that stood 
north of the hotel that Mrs. Fry occupied. Captain Wilcox 
ordered John M. Wilcox and myself to go into the grounds 
in the rear, and east of the old church on Main street, passing 
north toward the brick house that Mrs. Fry designated to us. 
When we had gone about half-way, we passed by an out- 
house, which stood on the southeast corner of the lot or. 
which the house of Mrs. Williams was situated. John H. 
Morgan had made his quarters there the night before. As 
we passed this, two officers, Johnson and Clay, I think, we:e 
their names, came to the door, threw up their hands, and said 
they would surrender; but just then we saw a man start 
from behind the building in his shirt sleeves and bareheaded, 
and run toward the brick house on the north side of the 
block; so we did not stop to take the two, but hurried up to 
catch the other fellow, as we saw that some of our boys were 
]' ust behind us. 

" We passed by the side of a grape arbor twenty-five or 
I hirty feet, and through it to the east side, where we could 
still see Morgan pushing toward the house. We got between 
him and the house, and ordered him to surrender, which he 
refused to do, and fired. The ball passed very near Lieuten- 



CAMP-FIRE CHATS OF THE CIVIL WAR. 307 

ant Wilcox and myself. We were about twenty or thirty 
feet from where he stood. He then turned and passed 
through a bunch of grapevines, and snapped his revolvers at 
us again. 

"Just at this time I saw Andrew Campbell tide out from 
behind the stable and fire. Lieutenant Wilcox and myselt 
both yelled at Campbell not to shoot, for Morgan was right 
in line between us and Campbell. Morgan turned and went 
five or six paces toward Campbell, when Campbell dis- 
mounted, and was taking deliberate aim, when Morgan 
wheeled and faced Wilcox and myself with his pistol raised. 
Campbell fired his second shot, which took effect just below 
the left shoulder-blade, and passed through his body, and out 
below his left nipple. Morgan threw up his hand and ex- 
claimed, ' Oh God!' and fell dead without a groan. We then 
placed his body on Campbell's horse, and he carried it about 
one mile west of Greenville, where we met General Gillam. 
Campbell said, 'General, here is the old Kentucky horse- 
thief, I guess he won't get away this time.' " 

A witness of the following audacity then told this: 
"About the boldest thing I ever saw done was an achieve- 
ment by Dan Ellis, a famous pilot and scout, who before the 
close of the war succeeded in piloting over 13,000 men in 
squads of from one to three hundred in one direction or an- 
other, through the mountains of East Tennessee. He had 
been trained in the vocation from his boyhood, learning his 
wit by hard knocks and from the rough teachings of experi- 
ence rather than from book larnin', yet a little, or even a 
great deal of the said ' larnin' ' would not have injured him 
materially, since he could neither read nor write, though he 
was as eloquent and as fluent a talker as could have been 
found in that part of the country. His reputation as a suc- 
cessful guide was well-known throughout the whole State, 
and when the Johnnies heard that Dan was leading a column, 



3o8 CAMP-FIRE CHATS OF THE CIVIL WAR. 

extra eifort was made to head him off, though, in the nature 
of things, they rarely heard of him, for, figuratively, he 
stepped lightly and filled up his tracks. 

"But even with him everything did not always slip 
smoothly. He was captured at least once to my certain 
knowledge. It was in October, 1861, just after the burning 
of the Union bridge, near Holstein. The operations in that 
vicinity for a few days previous attracted some attention from 
the Johnnies, and before we knew it, the Confederate Col- 
onel Leadbetter, with one thousand infantry, escorted by a 
battalion of two hundred cavalry, were down upon forty of 
us with Dan Ellis at the head. They caught us in a tight 
place, almost unawares, and we simply and quietly surrend- 
ered. It was a part of Dan's policy, he said, to surrender 
like a fellow confessing his guilt on the gallows, when we 
were caught in a trap, since that would tend to make the 
enemy more merciful toward us, and continued gentle sub- 
mission would throw them off their guard. So we went on 
with our captors almost as well as if we had been a part of 
them, until we arrived at Taylor's Ford. 

" Leadbetter turned us over to Major McClelland to take 
to Elizabethton and put into jail until further orders; but 
when we arrived at the Ford, Dan concluded that he had gone 
far enough with his Confederate escort, so he at once began 
to carry out a plan for escape which he had by that time ma- 
tured in his own mind. Riding up to a house near the road, 
his guard following close by his side, he leaned over the 
picket fence and called out for a cup of water. The lady 
within was not long in coming to the fence with it, and then 
the fun commenced. 

" The woman held up the cup of water to him, and Dan 
held out his hand to receive it, at the same time calling out 
loudly to the guard who was with him, as though he were 
startled : 



CAMP-FIRE CHATS OF THE CIVIL WAR. 309 

"' Look! look! See that Yank and Johnnie back there,' 
pointing to the rear. 

" ' Where? ' asked the guard. 

" * Way back — half a mile,' continued Dan. 

" The guard looked long and steady, but saw nothing. 
Meantime, instead of taking the cup of water from the lady, 
Dan placed his hand on the fence, leaped over, and was sev- 
eral rods across the field before the guard discovered him. 
The guard was so fully absorbed in looking for the Johnny 
and Yank to whom Dan had so kindly called his attention, 
that he did not hear Dan say: 

" ' Drat my buttons, if that wa'n't a pretty narrer jump, 
an' it hurt my hand,' as he jumped the fence; and, indeed, the 
first thing that called the guard's attention to the fact that 
Dan was leaving the country, was the shooting from the 
other guards, which soon numbered a hundred or more shots. 
But the bullets were too slow, and Dan was soon out of their- 
range. He was at this time on the crest of a low hill, and 
turned and saluted the Johnnies, who fired another volley at 
him, which closed the adventure. It was of no use to pursue 
since he had the advantage on any footman of at least sixty 
rods, and the fences and hedges were such that a horse could 
not be used, so that Dan Ellis escaped after all. 

"In this connection, with almost these same circumstances, 
there occurred another incident which shows what mother 
wit can do for a fellow sometimes, and which I will relate 
with the permission of the camp-fire." 

« We will refer that to the S. P. U. H.," said the com- 
mander. It was accordingly referred, and the society replied 
that they had always disliked the principle of usurpation in 
history, but asked that the comrade be allowed to tell his story 
on this occasion, so he continued; 

"Just previous to the capture of Ellis and the rest of us, 
while we were preparing ourselves for business at the front. 



3IO CAMP-FIRE CHATS OP THE CIVIL WAR. 

an incident occurred, the sequel to which was unique. 
Elizabethton, Tennessee, if I remember correctly, was the 
home of Congressman N. G. Taylor. At any rate, he made 
a ringing speech there while an enrolling officer for the 
Union army at that place, and grew eloquent in the cause 
which had sent him to Congress twice. He said that the 
Union was still strong, but needed to be still stronger; that 
the flag still waved over hearts that would remain loyal to the 
end; that all who considered themselves men would remain 
under the folds of the national ensign, and permit no strange 
banner to appear in our skies; that he, for one, would hang 
to the ship of state until the last plank, sundered from the 
others, would float out upon the ocean of anarchy, and then 
he would still be on that flank ! 

" This brought the cheers from the audience, and the en- 
rolling proceeded rapidly, so that it was only about two weeks 
after, when a company of a hundred or more of us encamped 
at Doe River Cove. 

" We had been there about a week, and some of the boys 
began to be impatient because there was no fighting or any- 
thing else to do. Soldiering seemed to be rather dry business, 
and gradually homesickness, thus early, and even a desire to 
repudiate their oaths, began to possess the boys. 

" Taylor staid among them, and all the while cheered 
and exhorted them to remain loyal. But finally the climax 
was reached. It now appeared that the practical part of war 
had never dawned upon the minds of the boys, and when it 
was rumored through the camp that the long-looked-for 
enemy were actually coming, and that there would in all 
probability be a battle, there was a general dropping of 
countenances. Captain Gourley, with a small force, was sent 
out to reconnoiter, and before long he sent back a messenger, 
who announced that the advance of Colonel Leadbetter's Con- 
federate brigade had been met and vanquished with due prompt- 



CAMP-FIRE CHATS OF THE CIVIL WAR. 31I 

ness; the messenger also bringing a request for moie men 
to assist Captain Gourley. The whole camp was accord- 
ingly ordered into line of battle at once. Every volunteer 
toed the mark, but just as they did so, a screech was heard off 
to the left, and soon there came through the bushes a man on 
horseback, with his face bloody, swinging a sword in one 
hand and a butcher's knife in the other, crying at the top of 
his voice: 

"'Run, (hie) boys! Run! They're cominM' the crier 
Deing one of those mis-made men whose idea of chivalry 
or knighthood, and especially modern soldiery, was that the 
first act is to get * gloriously drunk.' The first act having 
been completed, it did not take long for the drunken m.an to 
imagine that the whole Confederate army was upo7i him^ 
and, having fallen from his horse several times, the knocks 
and bruises therefrom bled freely, and soon gave him the ap- 
pearance of having been just where he reported himself to 
have been. The young soldiers who beheld him in this condi- 
tion were at that time just in the proper state of mind to 
take fright at anything like war, so that they did not need a 
second warning for each to betake himself to some hiding- 
place near. Within five minutes from the first warning 
sounded by the drunken soldier (?), the original line of battle 
could not be distinguished from a light gust of wind, so 
shadowy and absent were the previously brave soldiers. 

" No one could be seen except Congressman Taylor and 
Captain Boyd. They saw the last of their following secrete 
himself, and then saw the drunken man fall from the horse 
with that certain thud which gave strong evidence that he 
would lie there some time before regaining his consciousness. 
Then Congressman Taylor said to Captain Boyd: 

" * Well, captain, there may be something in it, after all,' 
referring to the sudden disappearance of the soldiers from 
the supposed enemy. * We had better be on the safe side, at 



312 CAMP-FIRE CHATS OF THE CIVIL WAR. 

any rate, and I think the safe side is the side of this embank- 
ment right here.' So saying, the congressman and the cap- 
tain stepped down the bank, and when they were well 
hid, Congressman Taylor sadly reflected aloud: 

" ' Ah, captain, the last plank of the ship of state is now 
out upon the anarchical billows of rebellion, but I am still 
on it.' 

" Sure enough, before many hours, the Confederates un- 
der Colonel Leadbetter came, and they picked up most of 
those who had formed the line of battle earlier, the Confed- 
erates having captured the reconnoitering party under Captain 
Gourley, who could not stay their advance under such great 
odds. 

" After hunting out the line of battle from the various 
nooks and corners, and capturing its members, the Johnnies 
finally found Congressman Taylor and Captain Boyd, who 
surrendered without much hesitation. All the captives were 
taken to Elizabethton and jailed. The last plank of the 
ship of state now appeared to be getting the worst of it — to 
be sinking, and dragging the congressman down with it. He 
was in a sorry fit. The enemy would have no mercy for 
him who had incited so many to take up arms against them 
only a short month before. He sought the advice of his 
brother-in-law. I believe it was he who told him that the best 
thing he could now do would be to confess his guilt, and make 
a speech in behalf of the Confederacy. This he concluded 
to do, and when he was brought up to take the oath of 
allegiance to the Confederacy, he seized the opportunity and 
made a rousing speech, closing with the following ambigu- 
ous words: 

" * Yes, dear friends, the ship of state has gone to pieces, 
and the last plank has floated out into the Confederacy, and 
I here solemnly declare that I am upon that plank.' The as- 
sertion received applause, aiitl was accepted as an oath of 



turn still staid under him for ! ^ ^ ' '"^ 'he pla„k ;„ 
to a third term as a rewar^'or^eS!" "" '^ "^^ ^'-'^'^ 




CAMP-FIRE XXX. 

A MULE driver's PECULIARITIES FORAGERS MAJOR 

COLLINS* NEGRO BOY, FRACTION THE SAD STORY OF 

AN UNKNOWN MICHIGAN SOLDIER. 

[[OMRADES, listen, while I tell you about a mule- 
W\ driver of the Twenty-sixth Illinois," spoke up one of 
the boys. 

" Frequently private soldiers became widely known in the 
army for some peculiar characteristic, but perhaps few were 
more so than the one I am about to describe. He was about 
six and a half feet high, long, lank and angular, with an un- 
gainly, swaggering kind of gait, though when astride a mule 
he was at home. He was generally known as ' Stackpole,' the 
mule driver of the 26th Illinois. He always had a good team, 
and if he lost a mule he could soon pick up another, since he 
did not concern himself as to where the mules belonged, if he 
wanted them. In tlie fall of 1864 '^^ ^^^^ ** ^P^^ from Gen- 
eral Schofield's headquarters team, and shaved, cropped and 
painted them, till the driver passed them on the road a few 
liours afterward, hunting his stolen mules, but never dream- 
ing they were before him. 

"This same driver had an undying thirst for good com- 
missary whiskey, and when the roads were in the most fear- 
ful condition, and teams balked and floundered in the mud 
till it almost seemed nothing would ever again induce the 
mules to pull a pound, if only the quartermaster would send 
tor ' Stackpole ' and promise him a pint of good whiskey, 
the balkiest team would soon be pulling for dear life, lie 



3l6 CAMP-FIRE CHATS OF THE CIVIL WAR. 

would vault into the saddle, straighten up the leaders, touch 
up every mule in the team, and when all were alert and 
ready, it really seemed he could make his whip play round 
like a streak, of lightning, hitting all at once; then he would 
halloo till you could hear him for miles, not omitting of 
course the traditionary * cuss words,' and things would go, 
however deep the mud might be. 

" Starting loads recalls the 'March to the Sea' with Sher- 
man, and through the Carolinas in the winter of 1865, which 
developed many expert foragers, and the enormous loads that 
some soldiers could carry into camp would astonish people in 
civil life. But the improvised carts and conveyances would 
also make them open their eyes. It was a common thing to 
see mules and horses led in loaded down with provender, 
but to see a nice family carriage driven in, with the elegantly 
cushioned and costly upholstered seats piled full of bacon or 
pickled side meat, was not at all unusual. 

"At Lynch's Creek in South Carolina, owing to high 
water, crossing was delayed several days, and the sparsely 
settled country was soon stripped of almost everything eat- 
able, until finally nothing remained to live upon but a scant 
supply of ear corn, which was rendered palatable by being 
parched. Officers had to watch their horses while they were 
eating, to prevent the famishing men from stealing all their 
corn. After crossing, the foragers struck out to collect food, 
and when they returned about 2 o'clock in the morning, 
the men got up, cooked, ate, and sat round the camp-fires, 
singing and making merry, apparently as happy and con- 
tented as if in the midst of plenty." 

James Houghton, of Plymouth, Indiana, a member of 
the 29th Indiana, then took the floor. 

"At Stone River, on the afternoon of December 30, 1862, 
the regiment was ordered to move up and take a position for 
the fight on the morrow. 



CAMP-FIRE CHATS OF THE CIVIL WAR. 317 

" Major Collins, of that regiment, had a negro servant 
whom the boys, for some unaccountable reason, had nick- 
named ' Fraction.' While being placed in position, Fraction 
espied a mulatto boy passing to the rear with an old fash- 
ioned *horse pistol ' in his possession. A sudden idea seemed 
to strike the servant, and he yelled, ' Wha' yer gwine wid 
dat shootin' iron?' The boy answered, * Gwine to de reah, 
to take car' the ' Gunnel's boss.' ' Fraction ' then said, 'Jess 
ban' dat shootin' iron ober to me,' and the boy, like a true 
soldier, quickly obeyed the order of his * superior '( ?). «Frac- 
tion' then followed along till the regiment was placed in 
position, borrowing ammunition from several of the soldiers. 
When the fight commenced the following morning, he disap- 
peared very suddenly, and not turning up at nightfall, nor 
the next day, the regiment came to the conclusion that he had 
been killed or taken prisoner. 

" On the third day, while a bevy of regimental and com- 
pany officers were seated under a tree, cracking and eating 
nuts that had been shaken off during the previous day's en- 
gagement, one of the officers descried ' Fraction ' coming 
toward them. He was immediately assailed by a volley of 
questions as to his late whereabouts, and after much taunt- 
ing and more coaxing, seated himself, and assuming a very 
important manner, gave the following account with the 
utmost gravity: 

"' Well, gemmen, when dat fightin' commenced, and de 
boys 'gan to drap like dey was hurt, an' de rebs 'gin run- 
nin tow'd us purty fas', I jess 'eluded dat I could run faster 
dan dem. I jess got dat boss pistol all ready, and away 
I went. Purty soon I he'rd somebody ridin' arter me, and 
when I looked 'roun', I tell you dat my legs trim bled, for I 
seed one ob dem rebel boss offica'hs comin' like de berry debil. 
I didn't stop to take aim, but jess histed dat gun over my left 
shouldah, and pinted it in thed'rection of dat man, and pulled 



3l8 CAMP-FIRE CHATS OF THE CIVIL WAR. 

de' triggah, an' I'll bet a possum' dat I killed dat fellah, but 
I didn't stop, no sah! I jess kep' on runnin', and when de 
bullets 'gan to go whiz-z-z-z, and de big shot sing whir-r-r-r, 
I jess dodged to one side, an' lay down in de fiel' wha' I bin 
eber since! You don' catch dis chile foolin' wid dem rebs 
any mo', — no sah, — de bullets cum too clus, an' 'sturb my 
appytite!' " 

« As a contrast to the anecdote just given, I offer a tribute 
to the memory of a brave Michigan boy who gave his life to 
his country," said Isaac N. Phillips, corporal of Company 
A, 47th Illinois Infantry, i6th Army Corps: 

" We had been for ten or twelve days lying in the trenches 
in front of the frowning batteries of old Spanish Fort, one of 
the defences of the city of Mobile. About the fort proper 
were breastworks inclosing a large extent of land, with 
several smaller forts having mounted batteries. The 
13th Army Corps lay upon the left of the i6th to 
which I belonged. I, with a large number from our brigade, 
was doing detail duty as a sharp-shooter up in the saps near 
the rebel works. The main line of the corps lay several 
hundred yards in our rear. The fighting had been done 
principally with artillery, and, day by day, as the siege pro- 
gressed, and the tremendous siege-guns were put in place back 
on the main line, the cannonade upon the Union side grew 
more terrible and deadly. The leaden rain poured into the 
port-holes of the forts by the vigilant sharp-shooters (whose 
well-directed bullets made it almost impossible to man the 
rebel guns), with the still more terrible fire from the bat- 
teries, and the ponderous shells from the mortars far back of 
the main line in the woods, made the situation of the 'John- 
nies ' precarious in the extreme. 

*' Those great mortar shells! Who that has ever heard 
the sound of their journey through the sky can ever forget it! 
When night settled down, and the cannonade would cease, 



CAMP-FIRE CHATS OF THE CIVIL WAR. 319 

the stillness semed unearthly, because of the contrast, no 
doubt, between that and the great turmoil and noise of the 
day; and this stillness was only broken by an occasional 
musket shot, or by the firing from the immense mortars in 
the rear. A dull, heavy report, followed by silence, was all 
that indicated the starting out of a thousand-pounder on its 
mission. Looking intently in the direction of the battery, 
some comrade would exclaim: ' There it goes!' and where 
his finger pointed would be seen slowly climbing the sky 
what appeared to be a little waving torch. Listening in- 
tently we could hear tlie hissing sou:id of the burning fuse as 
the immense shell turned over and over in its progress. 
' Wsh-wsh-wsh-wsh ' — nearer and nearer it came, making a 
slow, majestic progress up and over the blue dome of the 
sky, until, with almost miraculous precision, it dropped into 
the fort just in our front; and the fuse, which had entertained 
us with its little harmless pyrotechnics, during the long 
aerial voyage, never forgot to do its fatal work just as the 
shell came down. It would seem almost two minutes from 
the firing of the mortar to the explosion of the shell — min- 
utes of dreadful suspense to those inside the doomed fort. It 
was a rare accident for one of the shells to miss its mark, or 
fail to explode at the proper second of time to make its 
mission effective. 

" But it is not of bomb-shells alone that I am to tell you. 
One night the news came along the line of sharp-shooters 
that the rebels were thought to be evacuating the fort. It 
was between midnight and morning. We were not positive 
of the correctness of our information; but we were not long 
in verifying it. Pell-mell we ran, in the wildest disorder, 
over the trunks of fallen pines and among the rifle-pits 
skirting the rebel breastworks, scampering recklessly over 
ground, which, \vild rumors of buried torpedoes and infernal 
machines had, only a few hours before, made us view with 
profound reverence and awe. 



320 CAMP-FIRE CHATS OF THE CIVIL WAR. 

"Sure enough, the rebels had left the works. We picked 
up a good many stragglers in the timber of the inclosure 
skirting the bay; and a few of us crept down in the dawning 
morning light to the water's edge where, under cover of the 
trees, we could see the last boat-load of rebels embarking 
from a little island some three or four hundred yards off the 
main land, which island was connected with the shore by a 
plank bridge wide enough for two men to walk upon it 
abreast. The water was shallow. The rebels had passed 
over this plank bridge, and as we lay near the shoreward end, 
two men dressed in butternut clothes came running back over 
the bridge toward us. We supposed them to be rebels, but as 
they carried no guns did not fire upon them. When they came 
near we called to them to halt, which they failed to do. One 
of them raised his hand, in which was a short stick and said, 
*You are the men we want to see.' One of our party, noted 
for rashness and haste, mistaking the stick in the hand of the 
supposed rebel for a pistol, fired and instantly killed one of 
the two. The survivor called out that he was a Union pris- 
oner making his escape, and begged us not to lire again; and 
then he told us a story that touched my heart with a feeling 
I never experienced in war before. 

"He and his companion had been long in rebel prisons. 
They had been taken to Spanish Fort to work on breast- 
works, preferring hard labor to the festering efinui and filth 
of a prison pen. They had first met at the fort, only a few 
days before. The survivor did not know more than the giv- 
en name of his dead comrade, and that I have now forgotten. 
He belonged to a Michigan regiment, — had been several 
months a prisoner; all else was unknown. The two had 
taken advantage of the confusion in embarking, to steal away 
and make their escape. Just at the moment when his heart 
was beating high — when he supposed himself to be emerging 
from the jaws of death and the mouth of hell, as it were, the 
poor Michigan boy had been shot by his friends. 



CAMP-FIRE CHATS OF THE CIVIL WAR. 322 

" He was tall and handsome, and not exceeding twenty- 
years of age. His fine features and cleanly person and habit 
spoke him one of a good family, and probably city bred. We 
searched his clothes, hoping to find his name or some address 
to which we could write and tell the sad story of his death, 
but none could be found. We made him a grave 'by the sound- 
ing sea,' under the shade of the cypress trees, and there he 
sleeps unknown to the multitude; but not, I trust, 'unhon- 
ored and unsung.' 

"Lee and Johnston had already surrendered, but we did 
not know it. Doubtless his people — perhaps his mother — 
knew he was a prisoner, and at that moment her heart was 
beating with high hope at the great news of Union success 
which was soon to bring her boy to her arms. How she 
must have watched and waited and listened for the footsteps 
that never came! How she must have scanned the news of 
the returning prisoners whom peace had released from bond- 
age; and who knows but she may still be searching for the 
name of her lost boy upon the headstones of the many popu- 
lous prison graveyards! But no power less than that which 
shall reassemble all the dead, can ever bring to that Michigan 
mother the sad news of her lost boy; and then let us hope 
jts great sadness may be turned into a still greater joy, for he 
|;'ave his life for his country as much as though he had fallen 
•'bile scaling rebel ramparts, bearing his country's flag." 




CAMP FIEE XXXI. 

The Son's of Vetekaks — Okigin and Principles of the 
Order — No Politics Permitted in the Organiza- 
tion — Friendship, Charity and Loyalty — Major 
A. P. Davis, the Founder — Gen. AValter S. 
Payne, Commander-in-Chief — 50,000 Sons of Sol- 
diers — Usefulness of the Order and its Value 
TO the Country — The Ladies' Aid Societies of 
the Sons of Veterans. 

LOYAL valor and its deeds in defense of the Union and 
liberty, are sacredly enshrined in the hearts of Colum- 
bians millions. No lapse of time can efface the profound 
admiration and growing gratitude of a rescued and happy 
people. The veteran soldiers are everywhere welcomed and 
honored as, through the blessing of Providence, the success- 
ful saviors not alone of the best government on earth, but 
also of freedom to mankind. Every city, village and town is 
proud of her resident heroes. What may be supposed, then, 
to be the sentiments of the families of these old soldiers ? 
How will the boys feel with a knowledge of fathers' deeds 
that the whole world admires and pronounces unequaled? 
Can they help being proud of the honor of being sons of such 
sires? Can they do anything collectively, as well as individ- 
ually, to prove themselves worthy descendants of those heroes ? 
Is it in their power to be of service to the country ? 

These and similar noble thoughts, burned in many manly 
minds for upwards of fifteen years before there came to pub- 
lic notice that splendid organization — the coming patriotic 
power in our land — the Sons of Veterans, U. S. A. 

At the close of the war the sons of soldiers were young 

323 




Gen. Walter S. Payne. 
Coinmandei-iu-Chief of the Sons of Veterans, U. S. A. 



CAMP-FIKE CHATS OF THE CIVIL WAR. 623 

boys, for all of them who could stand on tip-toe and appear 
large enough for military service, had rushed to the front. 
Their inexperience would not be competent to plan an associ- 
ation which should reach throughout the whole land. Com- 
rades of the Grand Army of the Republic came, however, to 
their aid, and after abundant consideration with the young 
men themselves, forwarded in November, 1881, to the Com- 
monwealth of Pennsylvania, an application for a charter for the 
Sons of Veterans. This was promptly granted, and the 
worthy organization appropriately presented to the nation. 

To Major A. P. Davis, a prominent comrade of the G. A. 
E., of Pittsburgh, Pa., belongs the honor as founder* of the 
Sons of Veterans, an honor of which any man may be rapt- 
urously proud, and that will increase during the continuance 
of the Republic. 

The order fastens in the memory of millions a series of 
brilliant war-deeds, many of them sad and bloody. But those 
deeds were done for the best human result, viz. : that of in- 
suring freedom to mankind. The Son of a Veteran perpetu- 
ates the noble aims of the country^s heroes, as well as their 
matchless valor and sacrifice. The very name of his order is 
an inspiration to loyal hearts. Nor is he nurturing war bit- 
terness, for the magnanimous victors astonished humanity 
when, after conquering resistance, they closed the war by ex- 
tending such forgiveness as human history has never known. 

The cost of maintaining a young men's organization is no 
greater for this noble object than for the many that are far 
less worthy. Let this take the place of flimsy associations 
for fleeting pleasure ; this which furnishes the highest human 
inspiration to manly vigor and useful lives ; to heroic chiv- 
alry and valorous nerve. And a unity of aim can be secured 
in this compact of sons of gallant men that is unattainable 
elsewhere. Partially new is the scope of this society, as well 
as the illustrious belongings that crown it with glory ; but it 



324 CAMP-FIRE CHATS OF THE CIVIL AVAK. 

is built on an underlying principle of priceless worth to man- 
kind — that of American valor, American energy, American 
sacrifice ; in fine, American manhood, the highest type, be- 
cause the product of freedom. 

The glory of a nation is its young men. Let the sons of 
the preservers of oar Union hold worthily the same love of 
country, and they form a splendid phalanx of blessing. None 
can be more brilliant, none more talented, none more power- 
ful, none more noble than the keen American youth whose 
fathers have bequeathed tliem a ceaseless inspiration. The 
founders of the Sons of Veterans build ed better than they 
knew, for they launched an institution that should foster 
■energetic manhood, chivalry, self-sacrifice and vigilance. An 
association raised above the bickerings and pelf of politics — 
that should ignore differences of belief on all other subjects 
than that of their unfaltering loyalty, and of strong, honorable 
manhood in its behalf. For all know that American loyalty 
is the safeguard of freedom to mankind. When, therefore, 
the boys, in connection with necessary pursuits in lifers use- 
fulness, attend also to their calling as Sons of Veterans, they 
are marching as chivalrous knights of nerve and strength, 
"bringing blessing to the race. 

There have been several societies started, one of them as 
early as 1879. All, however, have been merged into this 
grand body, and to-day the Sons of Veterans, IT. S. A., 
extend from Maine to California, and from Minnesota to 
Florida, being found in thirty States, four Territories and 
the District of Columbia. 

The components of the Order are — 

1st. Local Organizations, known as Camps ; 2d, State 
Organizations, known as Divisions. 3d. The National 
Organization, known as the Commandery-in-Chief. 

The Order is military in its character and ceremonial work, 
and is officered in accordance with army regulations. 



CAMP-FIRE CHATS OF THE CIVIL WAR. 325 

Principles : A firm belief and trust in Almighty God, 
and a recognition of His beneficent guidance in the preser- 
vation of the life and integrity of the Nation. 

True allegiance to the Government of the United States of 
America, a respect for and fidelity to its Constitution and 
Laws, and opposition to any system or power that in any 
manner tends to impair the efficiency and permanency of our 
National Union. 

Membership : The sons, not less then eighteen years of 
age, of deceased or honorably discharged soldiers, sailors or 
marines, who served in the Union army or navy, during the 
civil war of 1861-5, and sons of members of the Order not 
less than twenty-one years of age, are eligible to membership. 

The Constitution provides that Posts may select five com- 
rades of the G. A. R., as an advisory committee to assist the 
Sons in their work, and in the management of affairs. They 
are given certificates of honorary life membership in our 
Order. All members of the G. A. R. are privileged to visit 
any Camp, and may remain during the entire ceremony. 
We always give them a cordial welcome. 

^^ We have builded upon the firm foundations of Friend- 
ship, Charity and Loyalty, and aim to make our work practi- 
cal by devoting our best energies to the Avelfare and happi- 
npss of the men who fought and bled that we might enjoy 
life, liberty, and pursuits of happiness in a land of freedom,, 
where equal rights and equal justice are guaranteed to all. 

" The ' Boys of "61-^65,' are one by one crossing the pon- 
toon bridge to the other shore, joining their comrades who 
have 'gone before.^ In a few years the ranks will be 
thinned by the ' Great Reaper,^ and but a remnant of the 
nation's defenders — who upheld our flag from the shadow of 
Sumter to the sunlight of Appomattox, will be left. Who 
will take their places to preserve the principles for which they 
fought? Who are better fitted for this work than their sons? 



\ 



o'Zyj CAMP-FIRE CHATS OF THE CIVIL WAR. 

Who appreciate the true value of their services better than 
we ? We ought to have a Camp in every community where 
there is a Post of the G. A. R., and in five years we ought to 
have 250,000 members. Like the G. A. R., the Order of 
Sons of Veterans is not a political organization. It is not our 
j)rovince or work to have anything to do with sectarianism in 
religion or partizanship in politics. 

The Sons of Veterans have been fortunate in presiding 
officers. The first Commander-in-Chief was Gen. Frank P. 
Merrill, of Auburn, Me. He was succeeded by Gen. H. W. 
Arnold, of Johnstown, Pa., now of Denver, Col. Following 
him came Cn'n. Walter S. Payne, of Fostoria, Ohio, who was 
unanimously re-elected and is the present Commander. His 
services to the order can hardly be over-estimated. He rem- 
edied the business difficulties and financial depression, intro- 
duced thorough system into the books, blanks, records and 
inspections of the whole force, succeeded in inducing the 
other associations of Sons of Veterans to join the main body, 
infused new life and ambition into all the members, so that 
very great gains resulted even in his first year of command. 
He lifted the organization so that it began to secure a hearty 
regard from the G. A. R. and the public at large. 

General Payne is a prominent comrade of the G. A. R. 
He enlisted in Company D, Fourth Wisconsin Infantry, 
April 19, 1861, and was made First Lieutenant before he left 
the State. He was provost marshal at Relay House, Md., 
during summer and fall of 1861. He was promoted to be 
Adjutant of his regiment, then to Captain's rank. 

He served under Generals Butler and Banks in the De- 
partment of the Gulf with great honor. He was appointed 
Assistant Adjutant General on the staff of Gen. Thomas 
Williams and afterwards with Gen. H. E. Paine. At Don- 
aldsonville, where he commanded two companies on the right 
of his brigade, he was flanked on both sides by the Rebels. 



CAMP-FIRE CHATS OF THE CIVIL WAR. 327 

He held his position till the twenty-six pieces of artillery 
were pulled off the field. He then marched his command 
back in good order and rallied the rest of the brigade. He 
was incapacitated for a year and a half from active service by 
ill health, and was then commissioned a Colonel in General 
Hancock's Veteran Corps. He is now a successful business 
man in Fostoria, Ohio. 

^' Captain! how large a force does Gen. Fayne command?" 

'^ Fifty thousand Sons of Veterans ; and the number 
increasing with great rapidity." 

^' What would you say about their usefulness and value to 
the country?" 

^'1 would say strongly that this brilliant union of the 
best elements of young manhood for upholding the flag 
and elevating humanity, serves the nation in a matchless way. 
And the simple fact that these scores of thousands of earnest 
men, brave by birthright, are supplied with military knowl- 
edge and discipline, conveys a sense of security to the loyal 
millions that has value beyond all price. They are a vade- 
mecum of safety and comfort. The old veterans are dropping 
away ; but when their numbers can be more than filled by 
heroic sons, let not the timid take counsel of fear. The 
example to the world is ennobling for this immense organiza- 
tion to maintain such a mighty tribute to American valor, and 
to hold extended so many hands and purses for the relief of 
the needy soldiers and their dependent ones. When, with 
earnest, manly strength, aided by lovely woman, they honor 
the departed heroes ; not alone with the choicest flowers on 
Memorial Day but by constant incense of gratitude ; they 
are lifting the thoughts of humanity to something better 
than self or mere financial accretion. 

And woman is aiding them. The mothers, wives and sisters 
of the Sons of Veterans organized in June, 1884, at Danville, 
Pa., the Ladies Aid Society of the Sons of Veterans, Miss 



328 CAMP-FIRE CHATS OF THE CIVIL WAR. 

Estella Baus was chosen the first President. Her successor 
was Miss Laura F. Martin of Lancaster, Pa., who was unan- 
imously re-elected and is the present efficient National Presi- 
dent of the order. Her efforts have been very great and suc- 
cessful in advancing this charming association. Her admin- 
istration has, from a handful of societies two years ago in 
Pennsylvania, with about two hundred members, extended 
the order into fifteen States, with a membership of nearly 
two thousand. 

The Ladies Aid Societies have been warmly endorsed by 
vote of the Commadery-in- Chief ; also in General Orders by 
Gen. Payne and Division Commanders ; by Camps and by 
prominent men in the order. The homage of commemorat- 
ing and honoring deeds of courage and chivalry has always, 
the world over, been best graced by woman's sympathy and 
love. Let her pure devotion sanctify the ennobling realm 
the Sons of Veterans are privileged to hold. Practically they 
have proved of great assistance. Their good works furnish 
the reason of the rapid increase of their societies. They draw 
^membership, like the ladies of the G. A. E., from mothers, 
wives and daughters of veteran soldiers and sailors ; to which 
they add the wives and daughters of Sons of Veterans. A 
glorious career is before them. 

The Sons of Veterans are giving great attention to mili- 
tary drill. Sometimes they are mustered into the State 
militia. At St. Paul, Minn., the drill of Camp No. 1. is 
hardly equaled in the United States. 

There are several Sons of Veterans' newspapers, supported 
by the order ; the National Reveille, Chicago, the Camj? Fire, 
Portsmouth, Ohio, and the Boy in Blue, Grand Eapids, Midi. 
Capt. Gerry, of the G. A. E. Comrade, Chicago, has a Sons 
of Veterans page. Also the Veteran Advocate, Concord, N. H. , 
the Veterans Review, Indianapolis, the Grand Advocate, Des 
Moines, Iowa, and the Arsenel, Minneapolis. 



CAMP-FIRE XXXIl. 

S MEN PERSONATE UNION OFFICERS A 

SUCCESSFUL MILITARY MANEUVER^— CHARACTER MAIN- 
TAINED NOTWITHSTANDING THE DEMORALIZING IN- 
FLUENCES OF ARMY LIFE. 

MEMBER of Mosby's band in the East appeared be- 
fore this camp-fire and desired to relate an adventure 
*,5P« which occurred within the Federal lines. He was per- 
mitted, and spoke: 

" After the winter's campaign in the mountains our band 
settled down for a time in the beginning of March, and dur- 
ing the latter part of that month the boys spent their time in 
individual and private enterprises. 

" Mosby could trust his men. They were all devotedly 
attached to him, and were therefore allowed all the liberty 
they wished. They would organize private excursions into 
the enemy's country. By private excursions are meant those 
in which two or three of the boys would, without advice or 
attention from any officer, put their heads together, and lay 
plans for adventures within the territory of the enemy. 

" One of these escapades is too good to be longer unre- 
corded. Sam Underwood was known among the boys as a 
mischievous, prank-playing, quick-witted, dare-devil-sort-of-a- 
fellow, not without a high sense of honor. He had been 
educated at the University of Virginia, and had both the 
culture and the powers of mind to have made a high mark in 
the world, but alas ! like thousands, of others he had no 
tenacity of purpose, and when the war l>roke out the life of a 

33^^ 



CAMP-FIRE CHATS OF THE CIVIL WAR. 33 1 

partisan was too enchanting for him. After that he couid 
not hold himself to any one thing long enough to achieve 
substantial results. But he was a fountain of humor, and his 
place under Mosby was just suited to his tastes — a freedom 
from responsibility, with all the liberty he wanted. 

" He disclosed one of his plans to Bowie, and together 
they started to work it out. 

" They found themselves after a day's and night's travel 
so far inside the Union picket lines that their identity was 
never suspected. They were loud-mouthed Union soldiers. 
They had ciothed themselves in the captured garments of the 
officers who had been taken at the Dranesville fight. Mosby 
had possessed himself of certain papers which had thoroughly 
posted him in the names and numbers of the regiments of the 
enemy. These papers were captured with the Dranesville 
officers, and after Mosby had used all he wanted from them 
they fell into the hands of Underwood. 

" The two daring guerillas were at least forty miles inside 
the Union lines, and stopping in one of the strongest neigh- 
borhoods of Shenandoah Valley, shook themselves in humor- 
ous gratification at having avoided suspicion. They gave 
out that they were quietly engaged in procuring information 
for the government at Washington as to how the soldiers of 
its armies were behaving themselves in Virginia. Their fa- 
miliarity with all the operations of the Federal forces, the 
names of well-known officers, their commands and subordi- 
nates, begot confidence at once. They were secret agents, 
and this they gave out as the reason they did not stop in the 
towns — they could get more reliable information at a little 
distance, where their mission would not be suspected by the 
armv. 

" They had been in the neighborhood but three days 
when they received an invitation to a party to be held at the 
house of Daniel Maxwell, a celebrated Unionist of that coun- 



b 



332 CAMP-FIRE CHATS OF THE CIVIL WAR. 

try. The Maxwells held first place in the social ranks, and 
were really a cultured family. It consisted of Mr. Maxwell 
and wife, one son sixteen years of age, and two daughters, 
respectively eighteen and twenty years. They were indeed 
young ladies of intelligence and refinement, and finished edu- 
cation, having graduated at the head of their class in one of 
the most distinguished colleges of the North. And they 
were as heautiful as they were cultured. Indeed, they were 
renowned for their beauty, and for the exquisite grace of their 
demeanor. 

" Into this family Underwood and Bowie had right of 
entree. To confess the exact truth, as they afterward said 
when giving an account of the party, an ' eerie ' sensation 
crept through their hearts as the evening of the party ap- 
proached. They had rather stand in the face of a whole 
Yankee battalion than before the flashing batteries of those 
two beautiful girls. But there was no help for it. Underwood 
was every way qualified to move in any circle, but Bowie was a 
novice in the aflfairs of the drawing room and parlor. Under- 
wood, however, after giving him a few lessons in etiquette, in- 
structed him to be sure and not talk, or try to do so, on subjects 
he did not understand. 'I'll do most of the talking,' said Un- 
derwood. 'They'll expect us naturally to be quiet about our 
business, and if we let things run their own way they'll come 
out all right; and then we'll tell the boys, when we %^\. back 
to camp, how we played it on 'em;' and he chuckled 
again. 

" About 9 o'clock they mounted and rode up to the 
Maxwell mansion. The parlors and drawing rooms, cloak 
and hat room, were all brilliantly lighted. Most of the guests 
had already arrived. A couple of colored servants in livery 
stood at the gate to show them in, and they were at once 
ushered into the cloak room, where they divested themselves 
of their superfluous wraps, gave a few touches to their hair, 



CAMP-FIRE CHATS OF THE CIVIL WAR 333 

a few whisks of the brush to their clothes, and were conduct- 
ed down the broad stairway to the entrance of the drawing- 
room. They handed their cards to the servant who, with an 
overwhelming bow handed them to one of the Misses Max- 
well who stood at the door to receive. 

"Underwood gave no description of the lady's dress, but 
in answer to a question concerning it, replied : *No one would 
ever think of her dress, who looked at her eyes. She welcomed 
us with a cordiality that made one forget he was a stranger. 
She took my arm first, led me to her mother and introduced me. 
She left me in care of her mother, who immediately intro- 
duced me to her husband. Then poor Bowie had to go forward, 
but he sustained the ordeal well — he couldn't do otherwise 
with so charming a companion. As soon as it was proper 
we were presented to the several members of the party, ladies 
and gentlemen. 

" ' But,' said Underwood, « I surrendered. The only 
Yank" to whom I would ever yield was that charming Evelyn 
Maxwell. Bowie and I were made heroes. Every attention 
was paid us. Bowie was looked upon as a dignified, quiet 
gentleman of distinguished ability, and I had to pass as a sort 
of chatterer. But so goes the world. Bowie's silence, with 
an unruffled manner to maintain it, gave him much char- 
acter. 

" * The hours passed away as swift as merry chimes of 
Christmas. Supper was announced. And such a supper as 
it was! Think of it! — roast turkey with cranberry sauce and 
celery of home raising, moist and tender; roast beef and mut- 
ton, with vegetables to suit. Then the cake, wine, pastry, 
and relishes of a dozen varieties — Oh! oh! But didn't Bowie 
wade in! I was afraid his appetite would make him lose his 
brains. Never dignified man ate as he did. I was afraid that 
in satisfying the keen demands of his stomach he would lay 
himself open to the suspicion of being a "hungry rebel." 



334 CAMP-FIRE CHATS OF THE CIVIL. WAR. 

" ' But to our consternation what should occur at this hap- 
py hour but the entrance of a Union officer who seemed to 
be at home in the house. The supper was ended, and the 
gentlemen were lingering over their cigars and wine. We 
were at once presented to him. He questioned us politely as 
to our command, inquiring into details a little too closely for 
comfort. Bowie shot a glance at me which the officer caught. 
I could see that suspicion was created. I tried with abandon and 
story-telling to efface it. I found afterward that we had made 
one fatal omission in our plans. We had given ourselves the 
character of two officers of Maine regiments located in the 
very line of the Confederacy, and we had forgotten that 
Maine men do not use the Southern "twang" in their pronun- 
ciation of words. 

"'Here we were — Yanks talking in Southern dialect! 
This was what struck the Union officer. I felt certain that 
we should not be interfered with rashly, nor until after the 
party was broken up for the night. I gave Bowie a signal, 
communicated to him my suspicions, and we arranged to leave 
a little before the accustomed hour of departure. We effected 
our purpose quietly. Under the pressure of sudden news we 
aroused our host and hostess and expressed our regrets that 
we must cut short our pleasant hours. We bade them good- 
evening. 

" * Our horses were pawing at the gate, and the darkeys 
were patiently holding them. We were accompanied to the 
door by Miss Evelyn Maxwell, and,' said Underwood, * as 
we were passing along the hall I determined to kiss those 
beautiful lips if I died for it. 

" * Bowie had passed out of the door, hat in hand, await- 
ing the close of the few words of good-bye. Miss Eveljm 
followed me out on the portico with warm invitations to 
return at any time. 

" * Suddenly I put my arm around her drew her to me, 



CAMP-FIRE CHATS OF THE CIVIL WAR. 335 

kissed her lips, and bounded away. Her sudden scream 
alarmed the house. In an instant I was mounted and with a 
dash of the spur our horses leaped off at a fearful pace. I did 
not say a word, only led the way. 

«^"What the d— 1 is the matter?"' shouted Bowie. 
'" What did you do to the girl? Hold up, man!" 

" ' On I went. I had done a dastardly thing, but I'll swear 
by all the virtues of Diana I didn't mean to. 

" ' Soon we heard the sharp clatter of hoofs behind, and 
knew v/e were pursued. But we gave them the slip. We 
rode out into the brush till they passed. We recognized the 
Union officer with a following of eight or ten men. 

" ' We rode all that night and lay in the shadows all next 
day, and finally came into camp after an absence of ten 
days. 

"'I have never been within one hundred miles of that 
neighborhood since,' continued Underwood, 'and I live in 
mortal fear lest I might at some unexpected moment run 
across that woman. But I'll swear to the last I couldn't help 
it. And if she could know that it was not meant for rude- 
ness, but was the impulse of a romantic feeling as a tribute to 
her beauty, I do not believe — sensible girl that she is — it 
would be very difficult to make atonement.' " 

One of General Sherman's admirers then asked to be 
heard for a brief time, and related the following: 

"In that desperate battle on the 22d of July, 1864, 
when General McPherson fell, the Army of the Tennessee 
was on the east side of Atlanta, but in a day or two they 
withdrew from that position, and, marching in rear of the 
Army of the Cumberland, formed on the extreme right of 
the army, and there on the 28th of July fought the bloody 
battle known as Ezra Church, where the rebel troops re- 
peatedly assaulted them before they had time to entrench 
themselves, but were in every instance repulsed with great 



336 CAMP-FIRE CHATS OF THE CIVIL WAR. 

slaughter. For nearly a month after this the contest was one 
of outposts rather than great battles. The Union lines were 
steadily advanced, while in many places, as we afterward 
learned by actual measurement, there were less than sixty 
feet between the fortified picket posts, and a continual firing 
both night and day was kept up. The soldiers went 
to their posts under cover of the night, and had to remain 
close on the trenches all day, for if a head was shown but a 
moment, it was sure to draw a shot from the enemy. 

" On August 36, General Sherman, in pursuance of a 
previously conceived plan, withdrew his whole army in order 
to make the flank movement below Atlanta and strike the rail- 
road at Jonesboro and other places, for the purpose of cut- 
ting off their supplies. 

" To prevent the rebels discovermg this movement in 
time to attack, it was necessary to maintain the picket line 
for several hours after the army had left, and this duty was 
assigned to Col. Ira J. Bloomfield, of the 26th Illinois, with 
about 400 picked men from the 15th and 17th Corps. The 
troops began moving shortly after dark, and by 10 o'clock 
they were all in motion. The noise caused by the artillery 
and heavy ammunition wagons aroused the enemy, and 
several times they made a heavy assault upon the picket 
lines; but the men held their places with great bravery. 
About I o'clock some of the men, conscious that all hope 
of succor was miles away, and oppressed by the intense dark- 
ness of the night, and the ominous silence of the deserted 
camp where a few hours before all was bustle and confusion, 
and knowing full well that if a determined attack should be 
made, they must all be killed or captured, became alarmed, 
and it required the utmost exertion of the officers to hold 
them steady. But, after holding the lines until nearly 3 
o'clock, they withdrew so quietly that the rebels continued 
firing at our picket posts, and did not discover our absence 
until daylight next morning. 



I 



CAMP-FIRE CHATS OF THE CIVIL WAR. 337 

" Before closing," said the last speaker, « I wish to call 
your attention to some effects of army life on character, and 
how these effects were ove rcome by the counter influences of 
peace and civilization. 

" In glowing periods Lord Macaulay describes the facility 
with which Cromwell's soldiers gave up the profession of 
arms and devoted themselves to avocations of civil life, so 
that they were noted for their diligence, sobriety and pros- 
perity; but never in the history of the world has such a 
mighty army been suddenly disbanded as in the spring of 
1865 at the close of the rebellion; yet men accustomed for 
years to live by foraging, or taking by force whatever they 
needed or desired, quietly sank back into the ranks of civil 
life, and soon became distinguished for their energy, in- 
tegrity and success in business, and no less so for their fidelity 
and zeal in support of the civil government of the country. 

" Among thousands of instances that might be cited I will 
refer to a boy who enlisted as a private when between seven- 
teen and eighteen years of age, from Tazewell county, Illi- 
nois. He was a mere stripling, slight of build, but rather 
tall. The hardships and exposure incident to the winter, 
campaign under General Pope, around New Madrid and 
Island No. lo, in March, 1S62, gave him the camp diarrhoea. 
His appetite failed, and his captain, thinking he would die if 
kept in the ranks, gave him permission to remain with the 
company wagon for two or three months, by which means 
he recovered his health, rejoined his company, and proved a 
faithful soldier, though he became an inveterate gambler. 
Whenever off duty he could be found playing poker or some 
other game for money, and such was his nerve and self-control 
that, though he lost or won hundreds of dollars, nothing 
more could be told of his feelings by looking at his face than 
at a board. His winnings, in time, became large, and he sent 
home several thousand dollars; and on the march from 



338 CAMP-FIRE CHATS OF THE CIVIL WAR. 

Atlanta to the sea he won until his bundle of bank bills be- 
came so large he had to carry it in a rubber blanket. He, of 
course, at other times, had great losses ; but when the army 
started north through the Carolinas, Jan. 31, 1865, he was 
left at Port Royal Inlet (because his time was out), nine 
miles from any Union troops, with over three thousand dol- 
lars about his person. He bade his comrades good-bye 
because refused permission to go along with them, went back 
to the coast, was mustered out of service, and came home by 
the way of New York. He invested all his money in land, 
and began farming and dealing in grain and cattle in his 
native county. He sold out all his property in Illinois a 
few years ago, went to Nebraska, entered some land and 
bought other tracts adjoining, located at the county seat, and 
is to-day worth a large amount of money; but above all, is a 
respected and exemplary citizen. This, however, should be 
said of him, that when he left the army he entirely abandoned 
gambling, and he most faithfully kept his resolution then 
formed, to do so. He is everywhere noted for his iiktegrity, 
and iiis word once given is to him a bond." 




CAMP-FIRE XXXIII. 

REMINISCENCES OF THE BATTLE OF CORINTH A BRAVE 

BOY IN GRAY THE OLD CANTEEN. 

J' can tell some facts," said Mr. J. W. Evarts, " of a de- 
|n tachment from the 15th Illinois Cavalry, "which I 
^ have never yet seen in print. They came under my 
direct observa<-ion, and will be recognized as true by many a 
comrade. 

" I was with Stanley and Rosecrans at the battle of Cor- 
mth, which lasted three days, the heaviest fighting being done 
on the 4th of October, 1862. On the evening of the 3d, near 
sunset, Rosecrans left me to watch a road two miles west of 
the town, on which the rebels were expected to approach in 
force, and invest the place that night. Price had sent Rose- 
crans word that ' he would take dinner the next day at the 
Tishemingo hotel, or in h — 1 ! ' I rode a fleet horse, and 
planted myself behind a large tree on the north and south 
road, at the junction of the road leading eastward into Cor- 
inth. Our entire army had gone into camp behind the forts 
and earthworks. I was probably the only Union soldier out- 
side of our lines. A half hour's watching, and I saw a dust 
rising up the road to the north. A moment later, and a long 
column of rebels were in full view; in the scattering timber 
for some distance the rebel skirmishers were deployed, and ap- 
proaching in line. I waited motionless till I could identify 
the personages riding in front, the descriptions answering for 
Generals Van Dorn and Lyttle. On reaching within fifty 
yards, realizing my safety had reached its limitation, I put 

339 



340 CAMP-FIRE CHATS OF THE CIVIL WAR. 

spurs to my horse and darted toward Corinth under a shower 
of bullets. Reaching the tent of General Rosecrans, I made 
my report, and the battle of the next day verified the identity 
of tnose rebel commanders. 

« The most tragic scene of the battle of Corinth was the 
charge on Fort Williams by the ' Rebel Forlorn Hope,' in 
which four hundred volunteered under Colonel Rodgers to 
capture the fort or die in the undertaking. The fight com- 
menced at daybreak, and had raged hot till about noon, with 
terrible slaughter on both sides. Our troops numbered 27,- 
000, and an area of five or six square miles around Corinth 
was thoroughly fortified, and long-range guns were so planted 
as to rake the rebel columns lengthwise wherever they 
formed. A deep ravine, stretching along the west of town, 
was covered with fallen trees, making a tangled abattis so 
great that it was difiicult to cross; but the rebel legions 
climbed from limb to limb over tree-tops, and jumped from 
log to log across a dangerous bayou, all under a raking fire of 
musketry and artillery, many dropping dead or wounded 
among the brush ; and to the number of several thousand they 
charged through line after line of our bristling bayonets and 
the slashing sabers of three thousand of our cavalry, reaching 
their goal, the Tishemingo hotel. Our cavalry rallied in 
force, and charged them back; but their onslaught grew more 
desperate, and they repeated the charge the second time, and 
were a second time routed, retreating over a thousand acres 
strewn with the dead and wounded of both armies. This 
weakened the spirit of the rebel commanders, and they called 
for the fated four hundred to capture our greatest stronghold. 
Fort Williams, whose guns were pouring a steady stream of 
destruction into their decimated ranks. It was but a moment 
after Colonel Rodgers responded to lead, that the four hun- 
dred daring men were in line, and at a little after noon they 
ruwhed like mad demons upon the fort, crossing the ditch and 



CAMP-FIRE CHATS OF THE CIVIL WAR. 34I 

scaling the walls, as i^ by superhuman dexterity. Many were 
killed at the first charge by the hundreds of rifles that were 
blazing at them from every direction. The charge was re- 
peated with more dauntless heroism, if possible, than before, 
and the rebel flag was no sooner raised than its brave bearer 
fell, a corpse. One by one this heroic band fell dead in the 
ditch or in the parapet, when, last of all. Colonel Rodgers 
himself grasped the broken and shivered standard, waved it 
above his head, shouted victory, and the next moment he, too, 
fell, pierced through the heart. Perhaps there was never a 
more exciting scene in the annals of modern warfare. Those 
who witnessed that terrible charge, could not feel any but the 
deepest admiration for such unparalleled bravery. 

" Colonel Rodgers was probably the largest man engaged 
in the war on either side, standing six feet and seven inches, 
grandly proportioned, and weighing about three hundred 
pounds. He was a lawyer by profession, and resided at 
Holly Springs, where he was highly esteemed for his nobility 
of character, and was regarded as one of tlie ablest and most 
scholarly attorneys in Mississippi; and though a confederate 
soldier, we can do no less than reverence his wonderful 
bravery." 

" We are all ready to pay our devotion to true courage 
wherever we find it," said the presiding offic».*, and now i 
will offer a tribute to ' The Old Canteen,' that staunch friend 
of true courage and all other virtues, by inviting Lieutenant 
Page to recite some beautiful lines on the subject, from an 
author who, though unknown, makes us feel that he has test- 
ed its friendship. 

In response, the following was rendered in the most appre- 
ciative manner: 

THE OLD CANTEEN. 

Send it up to the garret? Well, no; what's the harm 
If it hangs Hke a horseshoe to serve as a ch::rm? 
Had its day. to be sure; matches ill with things here; 



342 CAMP-FIRE CHATS OF THE CIVIL WAR. 

Shall I sack the old friend just because it is queer? 
Thing of beauty 'tis not, but a joy none the less, 
As my hot lips remember its old time caress, 
And I think on the solace once gurgling between 
My lips from that old battered tin canteen. 

It has hung by my side in the long, weary tramp, 

Been my friend in the bivouac, barrack, and camp, 

In the triumph, capture, advance, and retreat. 

More than light to my path, more than guide to my feet. 

Sweeter nectar ne'er flowed, however sparkling and cold, 

From out chalice of silver or goblet of gold, 

For a king or an emperor, princess or queen, 

Than to me from the mouth of that old canteen. 

It has cheered the desponding on many a night, 

'Till their laughing eyes gleamed in the camp-fire light, 

Whether guns stood in silence, or boomed at short range, 

It was always on duty ; though 'twould not be strange 

If ii> somnolent periods just after "taps" 

Some Colonel or Captain, disturbed at his naps, 

May have felt a suspicion that "spirits" unseen 

Had somehow bedeviled that old canteen. 

But I think on the time when in lulls of the strife. 
It has called the far look in dim eyes back to life; 
Helped to staunch the quick blood just beginning to pour, 
Softened broad , gaping wounds that were stiffened and sore, 
Moistened thin, livid lips, so despairing of breath 
They could only speak thanks in the quiver of death ; 
If an angel of mercy e'er hovered between 
This world and the next, 'twas the old canteen. 

Then banish it not as a profitless thing. 
Were it hung in a palace it well might swing 
To tell in its mute, allegorical way 
How the citizen volunteer won the day ; 
How he bravely, unflinchingly, grandly won, 
And how, when the death-dealing work was done, 
'Twas as easy his passion from war to wean 
As his mouth from the lips of that old canteen. 

By and by, when all hate for the rag with the bars 
Is forgotten in love for the "Stripes and the Stars;" 
When Columbia rule'- everything solid and sole, 
From her own ship canal to the ice at the Pole ; 
When we Grand Army men have obeyed the last call, 
And the May flowers and violets bloom for us all ; 
Then away in some garret the cobweb may screen 
My battered, old, cloth-covered, tin canteen. 



CAMP-FIRE XXXIV. 

THE LAST CAMP-FIRE END OF THE SEASON THE S. P. 

U. H. VALEDICTORY A HYMN OF PEACE. 

IT WAS spring; not one of the springs which poets dream 
about, but just simply spring — the annual return of that 
^ season which, in the latitude where the chats had been 
held, consisted of a muddy March, a rainy April and a flowery 
May. It was the same as any other spring. The morning 
had been just as frosty, and the edges of the small streams 
and mill ponds just as icy (and no more so) as any other 
spring; so the noon-days grew just as warm and pleasant; so 
the evenings were just as comfortable and chilly alternately; 
so the birds sang just as sweetly; so, later, when the thick, 
rich mud had changed to yellow clods, the grass grew just 
as fresh and green. All in all, no one could have any cause 
for special self-congratulation; but all alike were happy. 

The man of brainwork and the man of business each 
again could brush back the ruffled locks from his forehead, 
and, drawing a long breath, plainly see his blessed vacation 
in the distance of a short month or so ; while the rested, burly 
plowman could husk himself from his winter haunts, circu- 
late in the fresh, free air of an American field, and bend to 
his labor in the full hope of a beautiful and abundant 
harvest. 

In thorough and strict keeping with the spirit of the oc- 
casion, and desiring to be in harmony with nature, the veter- 
ans, therefore, in camp-fire assembled, passed a resolution 
which gave positive instructions to the janitor to abstain from 

343 



344 CAMP-FIRE CHATS OF THE CIVIL WAR. 

igniting the fagots until further orders; the resolution to take 
effect when this fire had burned itself out. 

The evening was devoted, not to the regular order of 
business ; but to general leave-taking, dreamy remembrances 
of the enjoyment which had been offered, and to a sort of re- 
view of the former camp-fires. Now it was time to say 
"Good-bye." The fire began to wane, and would soon be out, 
accordmg to resolution. Business must be hurried if any 
were to be done. 

At this time an idea struck a veteran. He would call on 
the S. P. U. H. for a speech to close. 

« Moved and seconded," said the commander, " that the 
Society for the Preservation of Unpublished History be, and 
the same are hereby requested to furnish a speaker for this, 
our last camp-fire." Carried. 

The society refused to comply, of course; they would not 
be human if they complied on being asked the first time. 
To their amazement and chagrin, however, the veterans did 
not make a second request for awhile. But finally, another 
invitation was extended, which the society, having selected 
one of their number for the occasion, was very careful to ac- 
cept, simply for the reason that the comrades might take 
offence, since they had originally assembled at the instance of 
a similar request from the society. 

Everything thus arranged and agreed, the unfortunate 
member of the S. P. U. H. who must speak, suggested that 
if the commissary would serve coffee and hard-tack, it would 
allow him a little time for reflection. Granted. The 
veterans then drank coffee; the society man drank coffee, and 
reflected. What would he speak about? The war had been 
the subject at every camp-fire all winter. Reconstruction 
was threadbare. No topic of sufficient interest presented it- 
self. The time for the speech was now at hand. The speaker 
arose. 



CAMP-FIRE CHATS OF THE CIVIL WAR. 345 

" Worthy Commander," said he, with great dignity, 
" I recall to memory everything which is of no interest. The 
comrades, I know, are weary. We have just had supper. 
Supper, dear veterans, is the only meal I really enjoy, except 
breakfast and dinner." 

"That's enough of that harangue, said the commander. 
•» Spring is the season for fresh things." 

" Well, there's nothing to talk about," said the speaker. 
" It is not proper to exhort your patriotism to fight another 
war; that only one flag shall rule us, has long been settled; 
and, indeed, there seems no demand for but a very small 
army. What shall I speak about? The plowshares of the 
regenerated people are warm with energy; honest manhood 
among them is flush in the hope of great fruitage, nor is this 
hope misplaced; while the smoke from factories, new and 
old, rises from a thousand hillsides. Only a few unruly ones 
tamper with what has ' ceased to be even remains.' Ever thus 
it has been. When a child burns his finger in the fire, he 
naturally becomes mad at the fire; but it is only necessary 
for him to thrust in his hand once more to find that the fire 
will still burn. The garment of charity soon covers the 
wound, which may be healed by proper doctoring; and when 
the child pushes his finger through the garment, it needs the 
hand of not only a stern, but modest, mild, and loving father 
to administer gentle but firm renroof, which makes the family 
complete, congenial and co-operative, when they can gather 
around a camp-fire and swell the chorus in 

A HYMN OF PEACE. 

The echoes of war now have traveled 

The valleys the last time for aye ; 
And the hills and the forests are silent, 

As the Angel of Peace wanders by j— 



34^ CAMP-FIRE CHATS OF THE CIVIL WAR. 

While the unknown now sleep where they suffered- 
In the land where brave charges they led ; 

Where the moss droops her tendrils in mourning, 
And the mocking bird sings to the dead. 

Unmarked are the mounds where they slumber, 
Their names are unsung and unwept; 

But their deeds are not lost nor forgotten, 
For they're in eternity kept. 

And while nature's monuments freshen, 

In merry spring over each grave 
Of the loyal sons of the nation, 

May her emblem in gratitude wave. 

And, too, while the bosom of ocean 
Bears the harvests away on her tide, 

May the olive branch bend in the sunshine. 
And brotherhood ever abide. 

Then let all the hearts that are heavy 
Be cheered by the smile of the glad. 

And every one who may be happy, 
Make happy all those who are sad. 




Gen. W. T. Sherman. 



i 

! 



CAMP-FIRE XXXV. 

RALLY AGAII^! — THE VETERAiq"S MUST MEET TOGETHER — 
HOW THE G. A. R. GROWS — A THIRD OF A MILLIOI^ COM- 
RADES — OVER OI^TE HUNDRED THOUSAND IN ASSOCIATE 
SOCIETIES — THE BATTLES AND IMPORTANT EVENTS OF 
THE WAR ARRANGED BY DATES. 

'^ TS^ALL in! fall in I — why, boys! how natural the call 

M^ seems/' said Colonel , as he warmly shook the 

soldiers' hands. ^^I declare! I was glad to-day to have word 
brought me that the vets were coming out to-night for 
another of our cozy, social camp-fire chats. We've missed 
it to go without them so long. No matter if that association 
with a big name (that rather mixed in with the business 
parts of our talks) wanted to adjourn and did adjourn, the 
soldiers don't propose to stay adjourned. Ttie ' Society for 
the Preservation of Unpublished History' may hang up its 
harp on a willow, but the boys that did the fighting don't 
propose any such innocuous desuetude. Not much! I tell 
you the veterans must meet together. There's too much 
solid satisfaction in it to forego the pleasure. The posts of 
the Grand Army of the Republic have regular meetings, and 
each one is a feast. But as all of our group haven't yet 
joined the Grand Army, we must once in awhile come to- 
gether here. When all our boys have fully ascertained 
what the value of the G. A. R. is, they'll all be in it. Member- 
ship there is a grand privilege and honor to all who are 
entitled to it. 

'*^ And by the way, boys, since our last camp-fire here the 
G. A. R. has made immense progress. Since this grand 
Order was last discussed here, there have been three National 
encampments and the membership has more than doubled. 

349 



350 CAMP-FIKE CHATS 0^^ THE CIVIL WAK. 

The report at the Seventeenth Encampment showed 971 Posts 
and 145,932 comrades on March 31, 1883. The report at the 
Twentieth Encampment, at San Francisco, showed that March 
31, 1886, there were 38 departments, 5,765 posts and 326,499 
comrades. In addition, there are • in the societies of the 
Ladies of the G. A. E. , the Woman's Relief Corps, the Sons 
of Veterans and the Daughters of Veterans over 100,000 
more — making a grand total of nearly half a million. 

" This TAventieth National Encampment at California was 
one of the grandest assemblages ever held. I am going to have 
a distingnished comrade who was there come in and tell us 
about it and bring us some of the good things that were 
distributed there." 

" Janitor, stir up that fire, and make it a rouser ! The 
veterans are going to have some brilliant social times together. 
We may boil some beans before we get through. '^ 

''Colonel,'' said a grim old sergeant, ''before we are 
favored with the G. A. R. history, can you tell us where we 
can find a perfect list of the battles we fought from '61 to '65? 
A veteran and I were looking the thing over the other day, 
but couldn't get hold of a complete list. We want the full 
record, including other important war events, and want to 
keep it where we can refer to it at any moment. I think we 
would all appreciate better the ties that make the Grand 
Army soldiers so dear to each other, by refreshing our mem- 
ories in regard to all the battles fought by the boys. The 
heat of those conflicts welded bands of fraternity and affection 
that can never lose their hold on faithful hearts." 

"Sergeant, your question is well put," said the Colonel. 
" I have given considerable attention to securing a complete 
list of the battles and the important events of th^ war. I 
have overhauled and compared several lists, and will give you 
one to be depended upon. Before I commence reading, how- 
ever, I must insist on your not interrupting. When the name 
of a battle is mentioned in which you were engaged, if you 



CAMP-riRE CHATS OF THE CIVIL WAR. 351 

don^t chain your tongues a dozen of you will be shouting and 
wanting to tell about it. Now, if you do that we^ll never get 
through tlie list, so you must all keep still. You may hold up 
your hands at your battle, but don^t talk.'^ 
''AH right, Commander, begin the battles.-'^ 

The Battles and Important Events oe the War, Ar- 
ranged BY Dates. 

1861. 
April 12-13, Fort Sumter bombarded. 

April 18, Harper's Ferry arsenal evacuated, [more. 

April 19, Massachusetts troops, under Gen. Butler attacked in Balti- 
April 21, Norfolk Navy Yard evacuated. 
May 24, Arlington Heights occupied. 
Junes, battle of Phillippi, W. Va. 
June 10, battle of Big Bethel, Va. 
June 17, battle of Booneville, Mo, 
July 5, battle of Carthage, i\Io. 
July 11, battle of Rich Mountain, Va. 
July 14, battle of Carrick's Ford. Va. 
July 18, battle of Centerville, Va. 
July 21, battle of Bull Run, Va. 

*' I was there ! " shouted several together. 

^^ Refrain from talking," commanded the Colonel. 

August 10, battle of Wilson's Creek, Mo, 
August 29, battle of Hattenis Inlet, iT. C. 
September 10, battle of Carnifex Landing, Va. 
September 20, battle of Lexington, Mo. 
October 21, battle of Ball's Bluff, Va. 
^' I was there ! " said some of the boys. 
'' Will you keep still ?" inquired the Colonel. 
November 7, battle of Belmont, Mo. 
November 7, battle of Port Royal, S. C, 

November 8, Capt. Wilkes takes Mason and Slidell from the 
steamer Trent. 

1862. 
January 8, battle of Romney, Va. 
January 9, battle of Big Sandy River, Ky. 
January 19, battle of Mill Spring, Ky, 



352 CAMP-FIRE CHATS OF THE CIVIL AVAK. 

February 6, battle of Fort Henry, Tenn. 

February 8, battle of Roanoke Island, N. C. 

February 16, battle of Fort Donelson, Tenn, 

" I-I-I-I was there ! " came in a perfect chorus of voices. 

'^ No talking in the ranks ! '^ sternly ordered the Colonel. 

February 23, Nashville, Tenn., occupied. 

March 7 and 8, battle of Pea Ridge, Ark. 

March 8, battle between the Merrimac and the Cumberland. 

March 9, battle between the Monitor and the Merrimac. 

March 14, battle of Newbern, N. C. 

March 22, Columbia, Tenn., occupied. 

March 23, battle of "Winchester, Va. 

March 23, battle of New Madrid, Mo. 

April 6, battle of Shiloh, Tenn. 

'^ I was there! " ^' I was there! ^^ called out the irrepressible 
veterans. ^' Silence in the battalion!" yelled the Colonel. 
April 7, battle of Island No. 10, Mississippi river. 
April 11, battle of Fort Pulaski, Ga. 

April 24, Farragut passes Forts Jackson and St. Philip, La. 
April 25, battle of Forts Macon and Beaufort, N. C. 
April 28, battle of Ft. Jackson and St. Philip, La. 
April 28, battle of New Orleans, La. 
May 4, battle of Yorktown, Va. 
May 5, battle of Williamsburg, Va. 
May 9, battle of West Point, Va. 
May 10, battle of Norfolk, Va. 
May 12, battle of Natchez, Miss. 
May 12, Bank's retreat down the Shenandoah Valley. 
May 23, battle of Port Royal, Va. 
May 30, battle of Corinth, Miss. 
May 31 and June 1, battleof Fair Oaks, Va. 
June 4, battle of Fort Pillow, Tenn. 
June 6, battle of Memphis, Tenn. 
June 27, battle of Gaines' Mill, Va. 
June 29, battle of Savage's Station, Va. 
June 30, battle of Glendale, Va. 
July 1, battle of Malvern Hill, Va. 
August 9, battle of Cedar Mountain, Va. 
August 29, second battle of Bull Run. 
August 30, battle of Richmond, Ey. 



CAMP-FIEE CHATS OF THE CIVIL WAK. 353 

September 1, battle of Chantilly, Va. 
September 5, invasion of Maryland by General Lee. 
September 14, battle of South Mountain. 
September 15, battle of Harper's Ferry, Va. 
September 17, battle of Antietam. 

" I was there \'' '^ I — I — I " — roared many voices. 
'^Keep still !^^ replied the Colonel. 

September 17, battle of Mumford, Ky. 

September 19, battle of luka, Miss. 

October 4, battle of Corinth, Miss. 

October 8, battle of Perryville, Ky. 

December 13, battle of Fredericksburg, Ya. 

December 29, battle of Holly Springs, Miss. 

December 29, battle of Chickasaw Bayou, Miss. 

December 31, battle of Murfreesboro, Tenn— also January 2d, 1863. 

" The Nineteenth Hlinois saved the left!" A perfect vol- 
ley of enthusiasm checked the speaker, and not until fifteen 
minutes had passed did the Colonel obtain silence. 

1863. 

January 1, Negro Slavery abolished. 

January 1, Battle of Galveston, Texas. 

January 11, battle of Arkansas Post, Ark. 

April 7, attack on Fort Sumter. 

April 29, battle of Grand Gulf, Miss. 

April and May, Union cavalry raid by General Grierson in Alabama. 

May 1, battle of Port Gibson, Miss. 

May 2 and 3, battle of Chancellorsville, Va. 

^^ I tell you, I was there/' spoke up an excited veteran. 
"Don't mention \i," laconically answered the ColoneL 

May 14, battle of Jackson, Miss. 

May 16, battle of Champion Hills, Miss. 

May 17, battle of Big Black River, Miss. 

June 9, second invasion of Maryland by General Lee. 

June 27, beginning of raids by the rebel Morgan. 

July 1, 2 and 3, battle of Gettysburg, Pa. 

"I was there;" "Now I toill talk;" "I helped give the 
Johnnies their Waterloo there; " "I fired the grape and canis- 
ter at them;" and similar expressions were heard on every hand. 



354 CAMP-FIRE CHATS OF THE CIVIL WAR. 



<e 



I am glad/' said the Colonel, ''that so many of you 
were there to help break the backbone of the rebellion, and 
were spared to come away. But don't talk about it now, or 
we shall be unable to finish the list this week." 

July 4, battle of Helena, Ark. 
July 4, surrender of Vicksburg. 

''Hurrah!" I reckon I was there!" "I was too," cheered 
the boys, with a vim equal to the Gettysburg survivors. 
They carried the whole house so by storm that all the Colonel 
could say was, "Don't!" 

July 8, surrender of Port Hudson. 

July 13 to 16, draft riots in New York city. 

July 27, Morgan captured near New Lisbon, Ohio. 

August 21 and 22, Quantrell plunders and burn^ Lawrence, Kansas. 

September 1, battle of Fort Smith, Ark. 

September 6, battle of Fort Wagner, S. C. 

September 10, battle of Little Rock. Ark. 

September 19 and 20, battle of Chickamauga, Tenn. 

November 25, battle of Lookout Mountain, Tenn. 

" Ah ! we were there! " " We climbed those cliffs!" " So 
did I! " cheered a dozen. 

" How you suppose I can read with all that racket going 
on?" smiled the Colonel. 

November 26, battle of Mission Ridge, Tenn. 

"Never mind the reading!" "Hurrah for that day!" 
"Please to write in your list that I was there?" "I was 
there ! " testified several gray-haired heroes. 

"You don't seem to keep perfectly still," mildly expostu- 
lated the Colonel. 

November 29, battle of Knoxville, Tenn. 
1864. ■ 

February 20, battle of Olustee. 

February 20, Sherman's expedition to Meridian, Miss. 

March 14, battle of Fort De Russy N. C. 

March 24, battle of Union City. 

April 8, Battle of Mansfield, La. 



CAMP-FIKE CHATS OF THE CIVIL WAE. 355 

April 9, battle of Pleasant Hill, La. 

April 13, Fort Pillow Massacre, 

April 20, battle of Plymouth, N. C. 

April 23, battle of Cane River, La. 

May 4, Army of the Potomac crosses the Rapidan. 

May 4 to 7 battles of tlie Wilderness. 

'^I was there !" *^ We fought in the woods/' spoke two 
old men, having but one arm each. 

" I am glad you got out of the woods, boys," was all the 
Colonel could say. 

May 7, Sherman begins his march to Atlanta, Ga. 

'MVe went along!" ^'^I tramped with Uncle Billy!" 
"I was there !" was shouted before the Colonel had time to 
raise his hand. 

May 7, battle at Bermuda Hundred, Va. 

May 7 to 12, battles near Spottsjivania, Va. 

May 14 and 15, battle of Resaca, Ga. 

May 15, battle of Newmarket, Va. 

May 19, battle of Nortli Anna, Va. 

May 25 to 28, battle of Dallas, Ga. 

May and June, General Sheridan north of Richmond. 

June 1 to 3, battle of Cold Harbor, Va. 

June 5, battle of Piedmont, Va, 

June 15, Array of the Potomac crosses the James, 

June 15 to 17, battle of Lost Mountain, Ga. 

June 18 to 21, Assault at Petersburg, Va. 

June 19, the Kearsage destroys the Alabama. 

July 5, Early invades Maryland. 

July 9, battle of Monocacy, Md. 

July 20 to 28, battles before Atlanta, Ga, 

''We wore there!" ''I helped there!" and a dozen 
hands waved aloft. 

July 30, Charabersburg, Pa,, burned, 

July 30, Repulse at Petersburg, Va, 

August 5, Farragut's Fleet enters Mobile Bay, 

August 8 to 20, Fort Gaines and Fort Morgan taken. 

August 18, W^eldou Railroad, N. C, siezed. 

September 2, Atlanta captured by Sherman. 



356 CAMP-FIRE CHATS OF THE CIVIL WAR. 

September 19, battle of Winchester, Va, 

September 23, battle of Fisher's Hill, Va. 

October 19, battle of Cedar Creek, Va, 

October 27, the Ram Albemarle destroyed. 

October 31, Recapture of Plymouth, N. C. 

November 14, Sherman begins his march from Atlanta to the Sea. 

'^ Ha ! ha ! I was there ! " '' Hurrah ! we went ! '' '' We 
were some of the bummers \" ^'1 foraged ! " and the laugh- 
ter and cheers of the triumphant host nearly took the Colonel's 
breath away. He could only murmur, ^^I suj^pose somebody 
was there, from wliat happened. '^ And then the boys sans; 
every verse of '^''Marching through Georgia," with a double 
chorus, before they would let the reading go on. 

November 30, battle of Franklin, Tenn. 

December 13, battle of Fort McAllister, Ga. 

December 15 and 16, battle of Nashville, Tenn. 

December 21, Capture of Savannah, Ga. 

December 24, bombardment of Fort Fisher, N. C, begins. 

1865. 

January 15, Capture of Fort Fisher, N. C. 

February 17, Capture of Columbia, S. C. 

February 17, Charleston, S. C, evacuated. 

February 22, Capture of Wilmington, N. C. 

February 27, Sheridan goes up the Shenandoah Valley. 

March 2, battle of Waynesborough, Va, 

March 12, Occupation of Fayetteville, N. C. 

March 15, battle of Averysboro, N. C. 

March 18, battle of Bentonville, N. C. 

March 21, battle of Goldsboro, N. C. 

March 25, Rebels repulsed at Fort Steadman, Va. 

April 1, battle of Five Forks, Va. 

April 3, Petersburg and Richmond captured. 

April 9, surrender of Gen. Lee to Gen. Grant, at Appomattox C. H., 

April 13, Sherman enters Raleigh, N. C. [Va. 

April 14, President Lincoln assassinated. 

April 26, Surrender of Gen, Johnston to Gen. Sherman, at Raleigh, 

May 10, Capture of Jeff. Davis, at Irwinsville, Ga. [N. C. 

May 26, the last Rebel force in the South-west surrenders to General 
Canby. 



CAMP FIRE XXXVI. 

EVENTS PKELIMIXAKY TO THE FIRIKG 01^ SUMTER — THE 
DIFFERENT CALLS FOR TROOPS — STRENGTH OF THE ARMY 
— NUMBER OF SOLDIERS FROM EACH STATE. 

'^ jrtjALLY rouud the fire V shouted the Lieutenant, and 
^% cue hundred and twenty-three old vets disposed 
themselves comfortably for a good chat. At once the Ser- 
geant called out "Before our forces get started on the Grand 
Army history and good times, I want to ask another question. 
I have thought a good deal on the list of battles of the war 
that we had last time. I took down a copy of it and 
wouldn^t be without that same paper for a good deal ; but I 
want some points on what happened before Fort Sumter was 
fired on. I know it was South Carolina that first passed the 
ordinance of secession. Can any one give me the date 'f 

"December 20, I860," said a high private. 

"Well, can you tell me, Mr. H. P., the time of the other 
states seceding ? " 

"Early in 1861 secession ordinances were passed by Mis- 
sissippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, Texas, Vir- 
ginia, Arkansas and North Carolina, and on February 4, 1861, 
the so-called ^Southern Confederacy' was formed at Mont- 
gomery, Ala. 

Kansas had been admitted into the Union on January 29, 
1861, and the rebels pretended that that occurrence and the 
approaching inauguration March 4, of President Lincoln, was 
a menace to the South. They got together and rushed things 
so that on February 18 they inaugurated Jeif erson Davis as 
President of their " Confederacy." 

"Thank you ! " said the sergeant, " and now for one item 



358 CAMP-FIRE CHATS OF THE CIVIL AVAR. 

more. I have a sort of indistinct impression that a warlike 
demonstration was made before April 12, when Sumter was 
fired on. But I want definite information." 

The historical veteran replied: ^'^Of course every one 
knows that the rebels stole everything from the United States 
they could lay their hands on — cannons, ammunition, guns 
provisions — in fact, pretty much all the property government 
had in the South. And on January 9, 1861, the steamer 
Star of the West was fired into off Charleston." 

^'^Well," said the sergeant, rising, '^I want to say one 
thing, right here : Look at the amazing forbearance of our 
government. The rebels began with secession, December 20, 
1860, four months before our volunteers were called out, 
April 15, 1861. During these four months they were daily 
insulting our flag and stealing all in their reach. And on 
January 9, 1861, over three months before our volunteers 
were called for, they actually fired on a United States steamer. 
Oh ! how many tens of thousands of lives that delay on the 
part of the government cost us ! And, besides, the traitors 
seeing that we were doing nothing only talk, took us for 
cowards and went on all the more abusively. Well, there's 
one consolation," the sergeant grimly added, ^' they found out 
they were mistaken." 

A tall corporal next inquired : ^'^How many calls for sol- 
diers were made, and for how long service ? And how many 
different men were there in our army ? " 

The well-posted veteran responded, '^'^ General John A. 
Logan made the address at the tomb of General Grant on 
Decoration Day, 1886. He therein stated as follows : 
^3,335,951 patriots voluntarily left home, family and peace- 
ful pursuits to defend the flag of our Union. Of these, nearly 
600,000 perished.' His statement is very high authority for 
the present proper estimate. 

'' From statistics published soon after the close of the war, 
1 can give you a good list of the dates, etc., of the different 



CAMP-FIRE CHATS OF THE CIVIL WAR. 



359 



calls for troops. You had better take out your pencils and 
write it off. 

'^'Number of men called for, with date of each call, and for 
how long a period of service. Also the number of men ob- 
tained under each call to June 30, 1865 : 



DATE OF CALL. 


NUMBER 
CALLED FOR. 


PERIODS OF 
SERVICE. 


NUMBER 
OBTAINED. 


April 15, 1861 


75,000 

82,748 ) 
500,000 f 

300,000 
300,000 
100,000 
300,000 ) 
200,000 f 
200,000 
85,000 
500,000 
300,000 


3 months. 

3 years. 

3 months. 

3 years. 

9 months. 

6 months. 

3 years. 

3 years. 

100 days. 

1, 2 &3yrs. 

1, 2& 3yrs. 


93,326 


May 3. 1861, 


July 22 and 25, 1861 


714,231 


May and June, 1862 


15,007 

431,958 

87,588 

16,361 

374.807 


July 2, 1862 

August 4, 1862 


June 15, 1863 


October 17, 1863 

February 1, 1864 


March 14, 1864 

April 23, 1864 


284,021 

83,652 

384 882 


July 18, 1864 


December 19 1864 


204,568 




Totals 


2,942,748 




2,690,401 





^^The calls of October 17, 1863, and February 1, 1864, were 
combined, and the product of the draft of July 1863 was 
credited thereon. 

^'In addition to the above number, 63,332 men were ob- 
tained, chiefly from the territories, and from other rebellious 
States, under different calls, and for various periods of ser- 
vice. 

''The whole number of men obtained by draft was 168,649. 
The whole number of colored troops obtained was 180, 097. '^ 

'' I rise for a moment, ^^ said the intellectual-looking cap- 
tain, " to draw attention to the perseverance as well as the 
grandeur of sacrifice which that list records. The first call 
of 75,000 men for three months, was then supposed to be 
more than ample. Afterwards, in May (eighteen days later), 
82,748 were asked for. Then like a lio-htnin^ flash after the 



oCO CAMP-FIRE CHATS OF THE CIVIL WAR. 

battle of Bull Run (July 21), came the call for a half million 
men. The Government and the loyal people were aroused to 
the truth that a great war was on hand. Then volunteers 
were asked for ^ three years or during the war.' Now mark 
well the response ! An uprising, such as history has never 
known — at which all nations of earth were filled with undis- 
guised amazement. The three calls united, required 657,748 
men — and behold ! there volunteered 807,557 of the best men 
that ever took arms, who afterward proved themselves the 
grandest soldiers of all time. That is to say, there rushed 
forward above the two-thirds of a million summoned, a sur- 
plus of 150,000 men I The excess was more than twice the 
number that Greneral Washington had under his command at 
any one time during the Revolutionary War. 

" For nearly a year these sustained the battle flags, till on 
July 2, 1862, three hundred thousand more men were called 
for three years; and a month later, August 4, 1862, another 
300,000. Observe, also, that 400,000 were called for in 

1863. Still the rebellion maintained a mighty front, and in 

1864, one million two hundred and eighty-five thousand more 
men were summoned, most of them for three years. 

^^I cannot help but think what must have been the crush- 
ing anguish of heart to the kind and noble Lincoln, as duty 
compelled him to direct each one of those calls. In summon- 
ing so many to danger and death in defense of Union and 
liberty, he only voiced the sentiment of all the noble in our 
land. How truly he spoke the will of the loyal millions, was 
seen in that unparalleled response ; when in raising 3,000,000 
of soldiers for the fiercest of earth's wars, only 168,000 had to 
be coerced by draft. Only one twentieth part of those vast 
armies missed the glory of volunteering to defend the old flag 
on the field of battle. Boys ! excuse my talking so much/' 
said the captain, while his face glowed with the old time 
spirit, '^but my heart is full every time I think of our vol- 



CAMP-FlllE CilATd OF TKE CIVIL WAR. 361 

'•^I move tliat we invite our musical comrade to sing that 
song, ^^ Three Millions Marched Out to Save Our Land/' 

"THREE MILLION'S MARCHED OL^T TO SAVE OUR LAND." 

" 3,335,951 patriots voluntarily left home, family and peaceful pursuits, to 
defend thoflagof our Union. Of these nearly 500,000 perished."— Gen. Logan's 
address, May 31, 1886, at the tomb of Gen. Grant, 

Three millions marched out to save our land, 
Three millions, three hundred thousand; 

Three million brave boys in blue, so grand, 
Three millions, three hundred thousand; 

The world kept count, with their wondering eyes, 
Three millions, three hundred thousand; 

And shouted ' ' glory ! " to see armies rise, 
]'■ Three millions, three hundred thousand. 

Those heroes in blue taught earth anew. 

Three millions, three hundred thousand; 
"What patriots true for right could do. 

Three millions, three hundred thousand; 
They met fierce foes that were brave and strong, 

Three millions, three hundred thousand; 
. And conquered all, though the fight was long. 

Three millions, three hundred thousand. 

'■ The soldiers now left are growing gray, 

Three millions, three hundred thousand; 

' And soon they will all have passed away, 

'i Three miUions, three hundred thousand. 

- But years to come Avill forever cheer, 

1' Three millions, three hundred thousand; 

'; . The grand old army that could know no fear, 

t Three millions, three hundred thousand. 

f "Ah!'' said the sergeant, "it is indeed thrilling to r^^ 

J view those figures of glowing patriotism. Now in this con- 

I nection can some one giv.e us the list of the number of men 

: furnished by each State? Of course the N'orthwestern and 

; some of the "Western States appear in such a list at a com^ 

I parative disadvantage with the older and longer settled East, 

\ Twenty-five years ago some of them were in infancy as states. 



362 



CAMP-FIRE CHATS OF THE CIVIL WAR. 



and but thinly settled. Several of the present States were 
then only territories. But we want to know, of course, just 
what each State did.^^ 

The High Private arose. '^Here, boys, is the record; 
arranged in the order of the number of men furnished by each 
state and territory, the highest heading the list : 



1. New York 445,959 

2. Pennsylvania 338,155 

3. Ohio 310,654 

4. Illinois., 258,162 

5. Indiana 194,363 

6. Massachusetts 146,467 

7. Missouri 108,773 

8. Wisconsin 91,021 

9. Michigan 88,111 

10. Iowa 75,793 

11. New Jersey 75,315 

12. Kentucky 75,275 

13. Maine 69,738 

14. Connecticut 55,755 

15. Maryland 46,053 

16. New Hampshire 33,913 

17. Vermont 33,272 

18. West Virginia 32,203 

19. Tennessee 31,092 

20. Minnesota 24,002 

21. Rhode Island 23,248 



22. Kansas 20,095 

23. District of Columbia. . 16,534 

24. California 15,725 

25. Delaware 12,265 

26. Arkansas 8.289 

27. New Mexico, (ter.)... 6,561 

28. Louisiana 5,224 

29. Colorado, (ter.) 4,903 

30. Indian Nations 3,530 

31. Nebraska, (ter.) 3,157 

32. North Carolina 3.156 

33. Alabama 2,576 

34. Texas 1,965 

35. Oregon 1,810 

36. Florida 1,290 

37. Nevada 1,080 

38. Washington, (ter.) 964 

39. ^Mississippi 545 

40. Dakota, (ter.) 206 

Total 2,666,999 



'^Boys!" said the Captain, jumping up, ^'1 must quote a 
few words Gen. Grant said one Fourth of July: 

*' ^ We should have been unworthy of our country and the 
American name had we not made every sacrifice to save the 
Union. What saved the Union was the coming forward of 
the young men of the Nation. They came from their homes 
and fields, as in the time of the Revolution, giving every- 
thing to the country. To their devotion we owe the salva- 
tion of the Union. The. humblest soldier who carried a mus- 
ket is entitled to as much credit for the result of the war as 
those in command. So long as our young men are animated 
by this spirit there will be no fear for the Union. ^^^ 



CAMP-FIRE XXXVII. 

STKENGTH OF THE U. S. ARMY AT f ARIOUS DATES Al^'D AT THE 
PRESENT TIME — THE GRAND ARMY OF THE REPUBLIC— THE 
EIGHTEENTH NATIONAL ENCAMPMENT AT MINNEAPOLIS, 
MINN. 

'' Ji[|ftO-NIGHT, boys/' said the Captain in his eloquent 
^ way, as he stood near the fire, *^we come to the 
mighty force of the present — the army that is the pride today 
of our nation — the Grand Army of the Republic. At one 
time (before our Camp Fire Chats were adjourned for a vaca- 
tion) the subject was discussed here and some very interesting 
things said of the Order. That society with a tremendous 
name, that was allowed to attend our meetings, published in 
their book of reports an account of the Grand Army of the 
Republic, including the Seventeenth National Encampment. 
They also presented the platform of principles, ' Fraternity, 
Charity and Loyalty.' Of course every veteran knows that 
no person is admitted to membership in the Grand Army un- 
less the official records of the war show him to have been an 
honorable soldier with an honorable discharge." 

^^ I wish to reconnoitre a little," said the grim Sergeant, 
'^if this large assemblage will permit me. The various lists 
of facts in regard to Columbia's splendid armies, which- have 
recently been furnished to us, are very highly prized by my- 
self, and I have studied them over a good deal. But I notice 
that neither list gives the strength of our army at any one 
time. I see that our well posted soldier is on hand again 
this evening and I want to ask him to favor us with this in- 
formation. We can then turn with even better appreciation, 
from the glorious army that was, to the Grand Army that is." 

363 



SG4 



CAMP-FIRE CHATS OF THE CIVIL WAK. 



^^In quoting the figures desired/' said the High Private, 
modestly ; '^ I only drop the reminder that at all times after 
the forepart of the war, a large number of our soldiers were 
absent. This state of affairs was necessary from sickness, 
wounds, imprisonment, and, at some more inactive times of 
the year, from furloughs and leaves of absence, when they 
could best be spared for a few days' visit to the loved ones at 
home. And as the list I give from the official reports, men- 
tions most frequently the date of January 1, (in winter inac- 
tivity), it is proper to introduce this explanation. You want 
to preserve this, boys, in writing, as much as anything else. 

SteenctTH of the United States Army at Various 
Dates. 



Date. 


No Men Pres't. 


No. Men Abs't. 


Total Strength. 


January 1, 1861 

July 1, 1861 

January 1, 1862 

January 1, 1863... . 

January 1, 1864 

January 1, 1865 

May 1, 1865 . 


14,663 

183,588 
527,204 
698.802 
611,250 
620,924 
797,807 


1,704 
3,163 
48,713 
219,389 
249,487 
338,536 
202,709 


16,367 
186,751 
575,917 
918,191 

860,737 

959,460 

1,000,516 





'' Will you please tell us what is the number in the United 
States Army in this good year of 1886 ?" asked a listener. 

''^ General Sheridan has just made his report, which gives 
the present strength as, officers, 2,102 ; enlisted men, 23,946, 
total,, 26,048." 

^'Ha! ha! ha!" shouted one of the veteran Sherman^s 
Bummers, ' ' they've got some of the officers left, anyway ; even 
if there aren't many men." 

When the laughter had subsided, the High Private re- 
marked, '^'^ You mustn't forget, boys, that there was a navy at 
the time of the war, as well as an army. Hundreds of thous- 
ands of the bravest men did there a most heroic service for 



CAMP-FIRE CHATS OF THE CIVIL WAK. 365 

the flag. Add their number to the army lists ^e have had, 
and you see how General Logan's figures may be reached. It 
will also increase the number given from each state, and fur- 
nish a basis for the 486,000 men the State of New York claims 
to have furnished, although the list I read mentions 446,000.^^ 

'^ I move the previous question/' said a veteran sharp- 
shooter, "and that nothing further be allowed to interfere 
with telling the history and the present value of the Grand 
Army of the Republic.'' 

"Second the motion," answered the sergeant, "and I do 
it all the more heartily as the splendid historical lists we have 
had, record an unequaled tribute to the men who now consti- 
tute the Grand Army of the Republic." 

"Boys V said the Captain, "it isn't necessary to call for 
a vote to show the unanimious wish to hear all we can about 
the Grand Army. I move that we call upon the comrade who 
went there and came back so full of the California Encamp- 
ment. Let him tell us of the recent history of the organiza- 
tion and the grand trip so many made to the Pacific coast. 
And, as an introduction, I suggest that we give three cheers 
for the G. A. R." 

The old-time way in which those hurrahs rang out, almost 
loosened the plastering from the walls. 

"Boys," said the veteran, feelingly, "it is an honor, as 
well as a pleasure, to try to speak of the grandest organization 
of men on earth — the present union of Columbia's veteran 
soldiers. I only regret that a more able person was not se- 
lected by you for the duty. What I may say will be mostly 
what I have gathered from the deeds and words of others of 
the comrades, as well as the official records of the Order. 

" I have been looking over the reports of the former series 
of Camp-Fire Chats, and I see they covered the ground only 
till the Seventeenth National Encampment at Denver, Col., 
July 25 and 26, 1863. Since that time three more have been 
held, the Eighteenth, Nineteenth and Twentieth. So much at- 



366 CAMP-FIRE CHATS OF THE CIVIL WAR. 

tention is necessary for the wonderful growth of the Order, and 
its kindred societies, and for the narrative of tlie Twentieth 
Encampment, that I can only glance at the two others. 

*^The Eighteenth National Encampment was held at Minne- 
apolis, Minn., on Jnly 23, 24 and 25, 1864. There Avas an im- 
mense attendance of old soldiers and the public — a magnifi- 
cent testimonial of a loyal people. The state and city gave a 
royal welcome to the veterans, which drew out the following; 
official resolutions : 

"The Grand Army of the Republic in the Eighteenth Annual Session 
of the National Encampment, assembled at Minneapolis, Minnesota, 
desire to express in this manner their grateful appreciation of the muniti- 
cent hospitality of the people of Minnesota, extended on every hand to 
them and to their comrades and friends in attendance at this reunion. 
For the first time gathered in the great Northwest, in a state that has 
developed such wonderful resources, adding so greatly to the wealth and 
prosperity of the nation, welcome made more than welcome, and citizens 
have vied with the public authorities in making our stay pleasant and 
memorable. Therefore it is unanimously 

"Bewlved, That a committe3 be appointed to convey to the people of 
Minnesota through the honored Executive of the state, His Excellency, 
Governor L F. Hubbard, the earnest thanks of the Grand Army of the 
Republic. 

''Resolved, That in cordial appreciation of the many evidences of gener. 
ous welcome shown in the decoration of public and private buildings, 
the reception and attention given by the officials of the cit}^ and the 
open-hearted hospitality extended by the citizens to the ex-soldiers and 
sailors of the Union, in attendance at the Encampment, the hearty thanks 
of the Grand Army of the Republic should be conveyed to the people of 
Minneapolis, through its esteemed representative, His Honor, the Mayor, 
George A, Pillsbury, whose personal attention and kindness will also be 
long remembered by the participants of this our largest Encampment 
and Reunion. 

'^At this Encampment John S. Kountz, of Toledo, Ohio, 
was elected Commander-in-Chief. The Adjutant-Gen eraFs 
report showed a membership on March 31, 1884, of 233,824. '' 



CAMP-FIRE XXXVIII. 

r'HE NIIS'ETEENTH NATIONAL EKCAMPMENT AT POETLAND, 
ME. — MOTHER BICKERDYCK — MRS. ANNA WITTENMYER 
. — FRATERNITY, CHARITY AND LOYALTY IN THE ORDER. 

^HfftHERE is so much to tell, boys," said the narrator, 
^^* '^that I must rush right ahead. Don't interrupt, 
now that I turn to the East. 

^•' Loyal New England was glad to have the old soldiers 
£ome to visit the sturdy State of Maine, and furnished a 
grand gathering of welcome to the veterans and their fami- 
lies. It has sometimes been said that the staid Yankees of 
the far East were not so demonstrative in manner as their 
broad-hearted brothers of the AYest. The mistake of such a 
jurmise is always shown when a call comes for deeds. The 
yeomanry, whose ancestors guided the Mayflower to Plymouth 
Rock, and built the foundations of Columbia's greatness, are 
.;hips of the old block when action for our country is needed. 
Vheir record in the Revolutionary times is one that stirs the 
heart of every freeman throughout the world with grateful 
pride that humanity has furnished such immortal heroes. 
A7id in the War of the Rebellion, it was the vigorous State of 
Massachusetts that sent 13,000 men more than her quota 
demanded. 

^^Siich, then, were the hearty, genuine 23atriots that were 
to rise in welcome to the old boys Avho saved the land from 
disunion. To say that the veterans of the Middle States, 
of the West and Northwest, as well as the Pacific Slope, were 
surprised at the warm greeting they received, is a mild 
remark. 

" Wednesday, * June 24, 1885, was a great day in Port- 

367 



368 CAMP-riliE CHATS OF THE CIVIL WAR. 

land. There never was one like it before — there will 
probably be none like it in magnitude during the years to 
come. For several days arrivals poured in on every train, 
while every country road leading into the Forest City was 
filled with farmers' wagons from all the territory around. 
Long before the hour of the grand parade, some of the streets 
were blocked with a mass of humanity, restlessly moving 
about, or frantically endeavoring to find a comfortable place 
to see. The weather was simply perfection. By nine o'clock 
the walks of the leading thoroughfares were almost impassa- 
ble. At ten o'clock it was impossible to move in some of the 
lower sections of the city. Every point of vantage w^as 
secured ; windows in many cases commanding a high premium. 
Balconies on the route of procession v/ere filled with lady 
friends of the owners. On State street twelve hundred 
school girls dressed in white, and waving flags, welcomed the 
veterans with patriotic songs. The beautiful lawns on this 
street, wliich stretch to the curb, were protected by wooden 
platforms which were filled w^ith chairs for the accommoda- 
tion of ladies. 

•'The route of the parade was three and one-third miles 
long, and the procession was two hours and thirty-seven 
minutes in passing a given point, including halts ; or two 
hours without halts. The veterans marched at a quick-step. 
It is estimated that twenty-three tliousand men were in line, 
while three or four times that number of people viewed the 
procession. It was a splendid pageant and one that will not 
be forgotten. The music of the thirty-eight bands and 
forty drum corps, the varied uniforms of the various com- 
mands, the superb banners, the torn battle-fiags, (for several 
were carried in the ranks) made this an event to live in mem- 
ory. Doubtless it is the only time the general spectator x.-iYl 
ever see such a gathering of these old veterans v/ho saved the 
nation's life. How proudly they marched along, beneath the 
starry folds of the oM flag for wliicli they endured so many 



CAMP-FIRE CHATS OF THE CIVIL AVAR. 369 

hardships — some of them marching together for the last 
time until they join the Grand Army above. 

^' A pleasant and natural feature was an immense camp- 
ground^ where thousands of veterans occupied tents in the 
old army st3de. I tell you, boys, it seemed like old times to 
hear the fellows cutting up. 

'' On Wednesday evening there were splendid fireworks on a 
hill and a inagnificant reception at the City Hall for those 
who could get in. It would have done your hearts gooil, 
boys, to have heard the speeches that night. I must o^uote 
one or two things that Gov. Eobie said : 

'^ ^In extending to the Grand Army of the Republic the 
greetings, hospitality and admiration of a grateful state, the 
gratitude with which our hearts overflow is stimulated by 
pride, joy and afl'ection, which language fails to describe. 
We remember your loyalty and admire your achievements. 
We honor you for the success which accom2:>anied your sacri- 
fices on the battle-iield and in the naval engagements for 
this Union. 

" ^The United States i: a country of homes, lovely and de- 
sirable only by that ownership and contentment which the 
Goddess of Peace and of Universal Liberty furnishes. Her 
sovereignty has been secured largely by your intrepidity, 
tested by the sharp sword, the glittering bayonet and the un- 
errino- rifle. The life of the Union volunteer has been writ- 
ten on the page of our country's history in letters of living 
light. 

ii i -^e read in your countenances, and feel in your presence, 
the varied experiences of camp life, and the shock of battle with 
its mighty memories. You have acted nobly your part, and 
have gained such unfading laurels that it is a high distinction 
for our state to be honored by your presence. The veteran 
soldier and sailor did the hard and dangerous work of the war 
for the smallest compensation, and without a murmur. He 
is therefore worthy of the highest honor on the pinnacle of 



370 CAMP-FIRE CHATS OF THE CIVIL WAR. 

fame. It is just that on public memorial monuments of brass 
and marble, he should proudly stand with his gun, sword and 
knapsack, as the conspicuous figure for the gaze of an admir- 
ing posterity. He represents that which is noble in manhood, 
courage and honor, and is known to all men as the savior of 
the nation. Welcome! thrice welcome! the veteran, volun- 
teer, private soldier and sailor of the G-rand Army of the Re- 
public. 

^•^ ^ And welcome, also, to our heart of hearts the noble and 
loyal women of our land, who more than all represent the 
fruit of exalted love and heroic sacrifice, in their gift of hus- 
band, son and brother on the altar of our common country. 

a ( There are comrades we cannot welcome here today, for 
many occupy ^^the windowless palace of rest.^^ They have 
passed the boundary of earth and now live beyond the river, 
sweetly at peace with all men. Gloriously did many die on 
the battle-field, on the ocean and in the hospital; thereby ful- 
filling the highest duty of life, to die for one's country. They 
cannot join this festival, but their memories are constantly 
and reverentially with us. We stand by the solemn pledge, 
as long as life lasts, to read the roll of honor, although silence 
gives the response, ^' died long ago on the field of battle." We 
will reverently scatter the earliest flowers of spring upon their 
hallowed graves. ' 

'' The Governor's address was received with immense enthu- 
siasm, and to the sentiments he uttered most hearty response 
was made by the vast audience. I tell you, boys, it was a 
sweet gift of recompense to have our deeds so gratefully ap- 
preciated and loved by the pure, cultivated, beautiful women 
and the noble men there assembled, and to feel that they were 
simply echoing the heart-beatings of all in our land, whose 
opinion is worthy of attention. 

'^ Do you know, comrades, I some times think that we didn't 
really appreciate, at the time, the grandeur of what we were 
permitted to do in the v^ar for the preservation of liberty? 




Gen. John A. Logan. 



CAMP-FHIE CHATS OF THE CIVIL WAR. 373 

Those Avho volunteered (and that means almost all our north- 
-ern soldiers) went principally because the manhood in them 
would not permit absence from the defense of the flag. We 
could not have been contented at home while disunion 
was threatening the nation's destruction. Our soldiers 
generally did not arrogate to themselves to be better than 
many loyal neighbors who remained at home. We simply 
went ahead and did our duty for the country and our homes, 
as best we coukl. And although the duty was hard, with 
23rivations and trials, with perils and sickness, with sufferings 
and, to many, death, yet the doing the duty was more desir- 
able than shrinking it. Veterans! it is no arrogation to say 
that such action is tlie natural stamina of American charac- 
ter. It is the fibre of heart and brain, developed in all our 
real men and women, by years of freedom's inspiration. 
Easier to do our duty for Our country in danger, than to 
cravenly shirk from it. 

'^ Our Union was treacherously attacked. We sprang to the 
rescue instanter; determined with the aid of the God who 
had always blessed our land, we would preserve our country 
undivided. After the rebellion had been put down and its 
armies scattered, and we, who were spared, had returned to 
our homes, we had mor6 leisure and a better chance to see all 
that the conflict meant. Succeeding years have brought con- 
stantly to our notice tlie testimony of humanity throughout 
the civilized world as to the pre-eminent importance of that 
war. Liberty had made her stand in America. All the op- 
pressed of earth were watching our land. If free institutions 
should fail here, then would the many millions throughout 
the world, v/lio were more or less enslaved, lose heart. They 
all would give up freedom, as an impossible thing for them. 
If liberty could be maintained here, it might enable them 
so?netime to obtain their ^^inalienable rights of life, liberty 
:and the pursuit of happiness.'^ Imagine the prayerful joy 
of suffering hearts across the great seas, when they saw our 



374 CAMP-FIRE CHATS OF THE CIVIL Y^AE. 

loyal nation following the guidance of Providence and remov- 
ing that great, dark blot on our fair flag, African slavery. 
And when they saw tlie unparalleled valor of freedom^s adhe- 
rents steadily winning the mighty conflict, 0, ho^y their nerve 
and manhood were strengthened! 

" Our successful defense, fellow-soldiers, was not simply 
that of our own country, but also of the foothold of freedom 
to mankind. Let liberty be destroyed here, and tyrants and 
despots would keep her banished from the earth, probably, 
forever. Let liberty be successfully defended here and estab- 
lished triumphant, and her deeds and blessings will inevita- 
bly spread her power and institutions throughout all the 
world. There have been other wars, some great ones, wars of 
conquest, wars of pillage, wars of revenge, vrars of defense of 
national boundaries, but never before, save in oiirown Colum- 
bia, a war for the defense of universal freedom. 

" So, my victorious and illustrious comrades, the success 
which heaven granted to our valor is the most important event 
in all human history; with the single exception of the coming 
of the Savior of Mankind. And the principle of universal 
freedom, then and there established, is of more value to hu- 
manity than any other possibly can be, save only that of per- 
sonal religion. 

*' Xo wonder, then, that added years only increase the pub- 
lic appreciation of that pre-eminent service cf Columbia's wai*- 
riors. No wonder that soldiers are honored everywhere for 
the part they were privileged to take in preserving freedom's 
blessings. No wonder the ties that bind together the hearts 
of veteran soldiers here, form a fraternity unequaled. To the 
fidelity to each other that was forged in the furnace of war — 
'the* honor of a soldier' — to the sympathy that passed 
through the touch of elbows in front of blazing cannon, add 
a loyalty to freedom that inspired deeds of inestimable value 
to humanity. A membership in this association cannot be 
secured by professing, or proposing in the future to do good 



CAMI'-FIliL CHATS OF THE CIVIL WAR. 0,0 

deeds. For enrollment here, one must have an honorable 
record for deeds already done as a loyal soldier. A society 
founded upon those unexampled achievements of heroism, 
with their matchless value to the race; a society, whose vital 
principle is loyalty to freedom, has a most glorious foundation 
for its existence, and stands absolutely without a peer among 
the associations or orders of human formation. 

*^ What I have been telling you for a few minutes, comrades, 
has been a summing up the glorious principles of the Grand 
Army of the Republic, not only as set forth in their books aud 
laws, but also, as stated by the eminent men belonging to the 
order. I started to say ^ great men belonging to the order, ■" 
but all the comrades are great men in patriotic defense of 
liberty. The veteran soldiers are the aristocracy of the land. 
I do not refer to the distinctions which society may try to 
make suj^reme, or the glitter with which misers of gold may 
seek to dazzle the people. I mean by aristocracy^ the heroes 
who have proven the best men in the land — the dauntless 
hearts, without whose valorous devotion, we would not have 
to-day a Union, or the world a home for liberty. I mean as 
the best, those who have done deeds that are the noblest in 
human annals. 

'* No matter, comrades, if a veteran soldier may be poor in 
purse, humble in position, perhaps, somewhat ignorant (for 
hundreds of thousands gave years of their school days to war 
duties), he has proved the possession of immortal and self- 
sacrificing courage. He has recorded himself by his deeds as 
immeasurably superior to the devotees of fashion, or the 
worshippers of gold. He gave himself a sacrifice for years 
for his country^s good, a sacrifice with instant death im- 
minent, or prolonged torture. There may be cavilers who 
will try to belittle his service, possibly with a view to screen 
their own lack of his nobility of courage. The crowded par- 
ticipants in commercial enterprise may forget the pre-eminence 
of the soldier^s work for freedom, where the events of an 



376 CAMP-FIKE CHATS OF Til C CIVIL WAll. 

hour were of more importance to humanity than the money- 
making of centuries. The cavilers and the hurrying business 
followers may, in the rush of American life, be guilty of 
injustice to the veterans, who secured the continuance of our 
prosperous country. Still, boys, the fact remains (and we 
know it), that the men who saved the land, are its best 
•citizens, the truest and grandest aristocracy." 

'^Hurrah!" said the grim sergeant, *^^ that's true. And 
it is cheering to us to realize that the best people in the 
'Country know it. They join heartily, not only in honoring 
our deceased comrades on Memorial day and at other times, 
but in giving to the living soldiers, before life's march is 
Glided, abundant testimonial of grateful appreciation and 
love. 

^^ But I interrupted the comrade to remind the boys of the 
incident where President Lincoln decidedly '^took down ' a 
crowd of pompous moneyed men. 

'^A large delegation of them came down from New York 
and were introduced to the president, as being worth, in their 
own right, a hundred millions of dollars. This did not seem 
to frighten the good man, who listened patiently, while they 
-asked to have a gun-boat sent up to New York harbor. It 
was at a time when every vessel and every man on sea and 
land was imperatively required for pushing the war into the 
enemy's country. The president told them that fact, and 
wound up by saying ^ that if he was worth one-fiftieth part 
as much as they were, and was one-hundredth part as much 
scared, he'd go right home and build a gun-boat and man it, 
without trying to bother the poor government.' Said one 
who was present, ' The way in which they backed out, fur- 
nished a striking illustration of the infinitessimal insignificance 
of money bags, by the side of the courage of a few soldiers.' 

'^ Mayor Deering, of Portland," continued the narrator, 
*^^ followed Governor Robie, with a very eloquent address of 
welcome. Some grand responses were made by General John 



CAMP-FIRE CHATS OF THE CIVIL WAR. 377 

S. Koimtz, of Ohio (then commander-in-chief of the G. A. R.) 
General Alger, of Michigan, General Lucius Fairchild, of 
Wisconsin, General Henry Wo Slocum, of New York, General 
John A. Logan, of Illinois, General George T. Anthonj^ of 
Kansas, Comrade T. B. Reed, General D. R. Austin, of Ohio, 
Comrade George H. Patch, of Massachusetts, and Comrade 
Charles A. Boutelle, of Maine. 

^*^ As opportunity permits, I propose to quote some of their 
eloquent words, as stating so well what the Grand Army of 
the Republic is, and what it teaches and accomplishes. Not 
to hinder you too long this evening, I want to speak of one or 
two things done by the Encampment. 

" A telegram of sympathy and affection was sent to General 
Grant, who was slowly dying at Mt. McGregor, N. Y., and 
the following reply — his last words to his Grand Army — was 
telegraphed by his son. Colonel F. D. Grant : 

^' ' General Grant directs me, in reply to your dispatch, to 
tender, through you to each one of the three hundred thou- 
sand veterans, his comrades,, now represented at Portland, his 
thanks for their interest in his health and welfare. General 
Grant wishes to take this occasion to also thank them for 
their splendid services, which have resulted in giving freedom 
to a race, peace to a continent and a haven to the oppressed 
of the world. 

'' The case of Mother Bickerdyck, the grand old army nurse, 
so dear to tens of thousands of soldiers, was mentioned. She 
had declined aid from the Department of California, where 
she lives, and was in need. Promptly the Encampment 
voted a donation of five hundred dollars to that good angel of 
comfort to such multitudes of sufferers. She saved thousands 
of lives. 

'^ No official action was necessary in regard to that other 
eminent army nurse, Mrs. Anna Wittenmeyer, of Philadel- 
p?iia. Yet in the quiet social talks many a comrade spoke 
with the most hearty eloquence of the inestimable good this 



SiS CAMP-FIRE CHATS OF THE CIVIL AVAR. 

noble woman did. She had passes from President Lincoln, 
Secretary of War Stanton and General Grant to go anywhere 
and everywhere in the lines, and make such arrangements as 
she chose for relief of the sick and wounded in hospitals, or 
on the battle field. She put in operation the Diet Kitchens, 
which employed nearly three hundred ladies, and revolution- 
ized the plan of hospital cooking in the entire army. 

'^^ During the discussions of the Encampment there was 
brought out the fact that the entire Grand Army of the Re- 
public now recognizes Dr. B. F. Stephenson, of Illinois, as 
the founder of the Order. 

^' One important subject came up, and was very thoroughly 
discussed. In Tennessee and some other Southern States ap- 
plications were constantly being made for membership in the 
Grand Army of the Eepublic from veterans who, before they 
were in the Union army, had been forced by conscription to 
join the rebels. They never fired against the Union soldiers 
or the flag, and deserted to the Northern army on the first 
opportunity. 

^^But they can not join the Grand Army. Any one who 
has worn the rebel grey can never wear the G. A. E. badge. 
I haven't time to tell you, boys, tonight of the grand elo- 
quence with which these principles were stated for which we 
fought. Treason cannot be palliated. Those who ever aided 
at all, voluntarily or not, are, on earth, forever separated 
from the loyal soldiers who put it down. 

*'Tlie strength of the Grand Army of the Republic on 
March 31, 1885, was 5,059 posts and 275,218 members. 

^'Gen. Samuel S. Burdette, of Washington, D. C, was 
elected Commander-in-chief.'' 




CAMP-FIRE XXXIX. 

THE BATTLE OF GETTYSBURG — THE TRIP TO CALIFORNIA 

THE WONDERFUL SCENERY IN COLORADO — RECEPTION OF 
THE G. A. R. AT SAN FRANCISCO — BUSINESS OF THE 
ENCAMPMENT. 

ft ROM Maine to California, is quite a jump, boys," 
^ said the comrade-historian, ^^but as the Grand Army 
took it, the narrative must follow also. 

*• Every comrade of the G-. A. R. had known for months of 
the magniiicent preparations made at San Francisco to honor 
the old soldiers. The local committee had sent, at their own 
expense of thousands of dollars for postage alone, letters and 
circulars with interesting information to every one of the over 
5,000 posts. 

^"^The great majority of the veterans passed through Chi- 
cago, with a stop for a visit to that wonderful city. Time 
forbids me to try to speak of the results seen on all sides, of 
the ceaseless enterprise of that wide-awake metroi^olis. But 
I should wrong every soldier if I failed to mention those 
three magnificent war panoramas and battle presentations, 
Gettysburg, Mission Ridge and Lookout Mountain, and 
Shiloh. You will not believe, except by your own sight, 
what a realistic reproduction is there given. Part of the 
panorama is made from actual earth brought from the battle 
field. In the one of Shiloh, is a wooden house that stood on 
the fighting field. The canvass painting is so joined to 
actual objects that the point of union cannot be discerned. 
You. are supposed to stand on a prominent point near the 
middle of the field, and all around the battle appears. As a 
grim veteran said, as he enthusiastically pointed his single 
arm: 'It only needs the racket to make it the real battle.' 

379 



CAMP-FIRE CHATS OF THE CIVIL WAR. 381 

'^ As Gettysburg was not only the most important battle of 
the war (as having broken the backbone of the Rebellion), but 
of all history, it commands universal attention. An enor- 
mous number of people visit the panorama. I secured as an 
especial favor some pictures which the panorama affords of 
the battle. These pictures are not mere fancy sketches, but 
are correct rej^roductions of the occurrences represented. 
Weeks of study and survey on the battle field, with the aid of 
hundreds of Generals and soldiers from both sides, enable the ac- 
curate presentation of the deeds and men in that awful carnage, 
even to incidental details. You have there the best of history. 

'' And now, boys, we leave Chicago. Of the beautiful ride 
for two days and nights, through Illinois, Iowa, Nebraska. 
and in Colorado to Denver (a distance of 1,024 miles) I must 
not tarry to speak. Nor of the beautiful and wonderful city 
Denver, with upwards of 50,000 inhabitants. Neither of a. 
thrilling visit to Colorado Springs and Manitou, seventy- 
five miles south from Denver, at the foot of Pikers Peak, 
with valuable medicinal springs and a score of wonderful lo- 
calities. Through all this section, the dry, clear, cool and 
exhilirating air braces one up wonderfully. 

"Pushing westward, in the narrow guage cars, (one train 
per day each way) in a few hours we reach the amazing scen- 
ery of the Rocky Mountains. The road built through this 
has justly given to the Denver & Rio Grande Railroad its re- 
nown as 'the scenic route of the world. "* The track is laid 
along the bank of the Arkansas river, which runs through 
canons. A narrow valley is flanked on each side by rocky 
hills and mountains, sometimes in precipices from 1,000 ta 
3,000 feet high. The passage is occasionally so narrow that 
it becomes a mere fissure through the heights. Far above 
the road the sky forms a deep, blue arch of light, but in the 
cafion, or gorge, hang dark and somber shades which the 
sun^s rays have never penetrated. The place is a measureless 
gulf of air, with solid walls on either side. 



382 CAMP-FIKE CHATS OF THE CIVIL WAE. 

^' No flowers grow nor do birds live in this solitude. After 
passing through the Grand Canon, the narrowest part of 
which is called the Eoyal Gorge, we come to a remarkable 
pathway over the mountain, named Marshall Pass. Two en- 
gines pull the train in a winding course up steep grades and 
around sharp curves, climbing the sides of the mountains, 
aud often passing snow banks, till in an hour's time we are at 
the summit, 10,858 feet above the sea. We then begin the 
descent on the other side, a ride full of magnificent scenery ; 
the train sometimes runuing on the verge of sheer precipices. 
Before long the Black Canon of the Gunnison is reached. 
It is grander, deeper, darker and yet more beautiful than the 
one we recently left. 

''^ After traveling over a hundred miles we begin the steep 
ascent of the Wasatch mountains, passing through Castle 
Gate, which guards the entrance to Price Kiver Canon. There 
stand two huge pillars, or ledges of rock, which are offshoots 
of the cliffs behind. One measures 500 feet, the other 450 feet 
from top to base. You can judge, boys, how attractive that 
scenery was, when I tell you that I rode for ten hours that 
day and evening on the platform of the car, so as to see it. 
From Denver to Salt Lake City is 735 miles, requiring nearly 
two days and nights of traveling. 

^^ The capital city of Utah is a most beautiful place of over 
25,000 inhabitants ; having broad, straight, level streets, 
shaded on both sides, eighty feet wide between the sidewalks 
and twenty feet of sidewalk on each side, with running brooks 
of clean water dancing along by the curb stone. The Grand 
Army Post of the city hired the large rink and set tables of 
ample provisions all day, free to all comrades and friends 
with them. Every evening an immense camp fire was held 
and most eloquent addresses were given by comrades from all 
parts. The Mormon iniquity received a liberal scoring. 
The comrades there say they are living in a ' hell on earth/ 
and asked that the whole country might be aroused to re- 




The Royal Gorge. 



383 



384 CAMP-FIKE CHATS OF THE CIVIL WAR. 

move the great blot of polygamy. Everybody visited the- 
Tabernacle, which seats 12,000 people. Also the new and 
unfinished Temple, begun thirty years ago, that w^ill cost sev- 
eral millions of dollars. And nearly all took a bath in the 
Salt Lake, with its astonishing buoyancy of water. 

^' From Salt Lake City to Ogden is thirty-six miles, and 
from there to San Francisco, 895 miles ; a ride of two nights 
and a day. A portion of this time was sj^ent in passing 
through as desolate a desert of sage brush and sand, as could 
'be well imagined. When the Sierras are reached there is 
plenty of splendid scenery. There are drawbacks in having 
to pass through forty-six miles of snoAv sheds (thirty-six miles- 
continuous), but yet we see enough to keep us filled with ad- 
miration. 

*^Just as the train was leaving Sacramento four men robbed 
an Ohio comrade of 1150, and jumping off, made their es- 
cape. The comrade was an old man, of over seventy years, 
who had his wife with him. He had borrowed a part of the 
money that they might come out and hunt up their long lost 
son. They were left penniless and overwhelmed with dismay 
and grief. A New York comrade enlisted two others with 
him and w^ent through the train. and raised $114, and gave it 
to the old veteran — a practical illustration of what Fraterni- 
ty means in the Grand Army. 

'^At last we are at San Francisco — the end of a journey of 
2,690 miles from Chicago and 3,666 from New York City. 

'*0n landing at the foot of Market street, the first thing 
that impressed one was the prodigality of decoration. Every 
building displayed flags, banners, G. A. R. badges, and patri- 
otic emblems and drapery. • Many were literally covered with 
these insignia of Columbia's greatness. Single business firms 
must have spent hundreds of dollars. At the top of the Mar- 
ket street grade stood a stupendous arch — seemingly of 
granite — erected in honor of the Grand Army and orna- 
mented by appropriate military figures. On going around 



CAMP-FIKE CHATS OF THE CIVIL WAR. 385 

the city one soon discovered that not only were all the busi- 
ness streets handsomely decorated, but also many parts of the 
residence j^ortion of the city. The location of ^Frisco on a 
hill made the display especially effective, Avdiich had been 
beautifully arranged by he) more than 300,000 inhabitants. 

^•^In the parade on Tnesday, August 3, fully 20,000 veter- 
ans marched in line, with scores of bands and drum corps, 
while over a third of a million of people viewed the steady 
tramp, tramp, tramp, and cheered themselves hoarse with 
enthusiastic greeting. A part of the way young ladies rode 
in advance and strewed the street with flowers. 

" To every soldier wearing the badge of the Grand Army 
the entire city were ready to take off their hats, and consid- 
ered it a pleasure to do so. Did a comrade desire information 
he had only to ask, and fullest replies were given with a cor- 
diality as if inspired by years of friendship. Business men, 
iind all citizens seemed eager to do anything to make the 
soldiers^ visit pleasant. They were not obtrusive and for- 
ward, to annoy strangers, but held themselves, with well-bred 
politeness, always ready to do deeds of kindness and welcome. 
Ask in a business house the distance and direction to a certain 
street, and the proprietor would clap on his hat and walk to 
the corner, or even several blocks, in order to show you the 
easiest and quickest way. They seemed to have given up 
their time to the entertainment of their guests, and appeared 
glad of an opportunity to do a favor for a soldier. 

*'The ladies — and they are very beautiful in California ; 
the climate, or something, seeming to make them unusually 
lovely — often forgot the ceremony with which they usually 
hedge themselves, and accepted the veterans' badge as a 
wholesale introduction. A limp or a scar was a j)atent of 
nobility, and an empty sleeve or a wooden leg, an emblem 
of royalty. At this distance from that glowing welcome, it 
may seem to you, comrades, to be an exaggeration for me 
to try to tell you the simple truth of their attention to our 



386 CAMP-FIRE CHATS OF THE CIVIL WAR. 

happiness. But the most gloAving words that any one can 
command will fall far short of the reality of their grateful 
regard, everywhere shown, for the nation's defenders. They 
are enthusiastic over there and in the habit of doing things 
on a grand scale when they choose. They had not seen the 
Grand Army on that coast, when gathered in its magnificent 
strength. They wanted the boys to come. 

^'A year previous, at Portland, a prominent California com- 
rade spoke of the great desire in that state fo?* the soldiers to 
visit them. Thousands of veterans had gone there since the 
war to live. One Post alone (Geo. H. Thomas, No. 'Z, of San 
Francisco), had members of 532 different regiments, and with 
two exceptions, no two men belonged to the same regiment. 
That fact illustrates why the comrades wanted a reunion with 
the members of their old regiments, their old companies, and 
with the men that fought side by side with them on the field 
of battle and in our navy. His remarks seemed at the time 
to be rather enthusiastic and figurative, but he told the truth. 
We found that his figures were backed by an appropriation of 
125,000 from the state, $5,000 from the city and 175,000 from 
the citizens' subscriptions ; supplemented by over $25,000 ex- 
pended by the Posts and associate societies, not to speak of 
the scores of thousands of dollars lavished in private hospital- 
ity. San I rancisco undoubtedly gave over a quarter of mill- 
ion of dollars to honoring and entertaining the Grand Army, 
in addition to all they spent for decorations. 

" Here is what the California comrade said at Portland 
about the people's desires in California: 

" 'A million people of California, wearing their hearts upon 
their hands, with the strings of their purses unloosed, speak 
in thunder-tones through me today, ''Come to San Fran- 
cisco.'' And, without seeking to make a figure of speech, I 
will tell you, boys, if you elect to come to that city of our 
Golden State, the heroes of our last war shall walk through 
the streets of that city on pavements strewn with roses. 



CAMP-FIRE CHATS OF THE CIVIL WAR. 387 

[Laughter and applause.] The people are ready for you; the 
people want you; their arms are wide open; the latch-string 
is- hanging on the outside of their door; the children in the 
streets go crying for the members of the Grand Army of the 
Eepublic. [Loud laughter and applause.] JSTo woman, no 
child, no man, no boy, but his heart is filled with enthusiastic 
interest for the comrades of the Grand Army of the Eepub- 
lic.^ [Applause.] 

^' The comrade was right, boys. I repeat, that what he 
said at Portland was true, and it was a very happy choice the 
Grand Army made in going to California for the Twentieth 
Encampment . 

^' In the parade a number of the old war flags were carried; 
and as the tattered remnants, riddled witli bullets and rent 
with the storm of battle, passed along, there were plentiful 
tears in manly eyes, as well as in those of beautiful women. The 
silent story that the shattered banners told of labor, suifer- 
ing, danger and deatli, and of unequaled valor in defense of 
the dear old flag — their mute appeal touched hundreds of 
thousands of hearts. And the boys felt, as they marched 
through those packed streets, that the hardships of war re- 
ceived a compensation in the grateful homage of a united 
and happy people. As the bright sun, passing down beyond 
the Pacific, marked the close of that great and happy day, 
hundreds of thousands of hearts had been drawn out to a 
closer sympathy, and to a grander appreciation of valor and 
sacrifice. They gained a higher love for the glorious land 
that is a beacon-light of liberty to the human race. 

'''On Tuesday evening there was a grand night-parade and 
an escort of the Encampment to Mechanic's Pavilion (capable 
of seating 12,000 people). A dazzling feature of the j^rocession 
was a pyrotechnic display by the Topeka (Kansas) Flambeau 
Club, of eighty men, who fired off rockets, Roman candles, 
and other fireworks, as they marched along (they m.eanwhile 
drilling in military evolutions). A grand reception was held 



388 CAMP-FIRE CHATS OF THE CIVIL WAll. 

there, with eloquent speeches by the governor, the mayor, 
and by leading Grand iVrmy of the Eepublic orators. I am not 
going to stop now to try to tell you what they said. There is 
so much to mention of what the people did, to make that 
week the grandest reception that has ever been given to any 
body of men. 

" Wednesday, August 4, was clear, cool and delightful, as 
were all the days. They have two seasons: the wet, from 
about October to April, and the dry, from April to October. 
We were there in the time when they don't have any anxiety 
about the weather's interfering with festivities. Occasionally 
a fog comes up for a short time (serving to remind o± that 
^ew York luxury) but passes harmlessly away. To those 
who come from the regions of blizzards and scorchers — from 
changes of thermometer, ranging from 100 and 110 above, to 
10, 20, 30 and 40 degrees below zero — the climate of Cal- 
ifornia seems wonderful. The average on the coast, at latitude 
37, is 46° in January, and 69*^ in July. The trade winds 
from off the Pacific ocean preserve a delightful coolness. 
This coolness (only in the air, not in the people) was more 
than the boys expected, and I heard some of them say, they 
were not really warm Avhile in the city, except when getting 
near a fire. It looked odd to see the ladies wearing furs in 
August. 

''The Californians are proud of the climate, and I don't 
blame them. Some of our comrades, who were always 
inquiring the prices of things, said the people charged from 
#500 to $1,000 per acre for the climate, and threw the land in. 

''At ten o'clock Wednesday, a. m., the three hundred un- 
fortunate comrades who were delegates to the Encampment, 
had to shut themselves up in a hall and go to discussing and 
fixing up business details. The vast majority (and estimates 
of the number of comrades and relatives crossing the Kocky 
mountains on this excursion, vary from ten to fifteen thou- 
>sand — over five hundred registering at Illinois department 



CAMP-FIllE CHATS OF THE CIVIL WAll. 380 

headquarters in the city) were free, however, to enjoy the 
hixuries spread out before them. The general feature of 
AVednesday was an excursion by rail through the Sonoma 
valley, 83 miles north, to Cloverdale; stopping on return at 
Santa Rosa for a grand barbecue and reception by the citizens 
there. And it luas grand. The feast provided was more than 
could be eaten, as their delicious fruits interfered with the 
boys' former army success as devourers. It was a marvel 
that so small a place as Santa Rosa (4,000 people) could provide 
such abundance. It must be borne in mind that California is 
not so thickly settled as the Xew England or Middle States. 
Santa Rosa and Petaluma (5,000) are the only villages on this 
route that exceed about a thousand inhabitants. Only two 
or three of the latter. 

*'0n Wednesday evening there was a splendid concert at 
Mechanic's Pavillion, largely of jDatriotic music, given by 
1,000 voices, with fine orchestra. While close on to 15,000 
people were present, more than that number were turned 
away from the doors. 

'^ On Thursday, August 5, there was a raib'oad excursion 
south, eighty miles, to Santa Cruz (5,000), on the ocean, and 
to the Big Trees (twenty acres of redwood trees, from ten to 
eighteen feet in diameter) Another big barbecue and recep- 
tion at Santa Cruz. 

" On Thursday evening there was a general reception at the 
Mechanic's Pavillion; also a grand banquet to the Encamp- 
ment — the best, without exception, that has ever been given 
to the Grand Army. 

^^On Friday, August 6, there were two excursions, one to 
Monterey, California's greatest watering place, about a hun- 
dred miles south, with its big Hotel-del-Monte, and the other, 
eighty miles north, on the North Pacific Coast Railway. 

'' On Eriday evening, the national convention of the 
Woman's Relief Corps, gave (at the spacious Metropolitan 
Temple) a magnificent reception to the National Encamp- 



390 CAMP-FIBE CHATS OF THE CIVIL WAR. 

ment, the Society of the Army of the Potomac, the Loyal 
Legion, and all kindred societies. I wish there were more 
time to quote to you from the glorious speeches there. The 
ladies had made the immense hall a perfect fairyland of flowers 
and beauty, and all the orators were inspired to excel them- 
selves. 

'^On Saturday, August 7, there was an immense excursion 
on steamers around the bay of San Francisco. Everyone 
went, as the National Encampment closed its business session 
Friday, p. m. 

''On Saturday evening was held at the Pavilion, probably,, 
the grandest camp-fire ever known anywhere. Tables were 
set for over 5,000 at a time. None but veterans were admitted 
to the lower floor; all friends (who were fortunate enough ta 
get in) having to take the galleries. More than ample pro- 
visions were supplied (and it took a good deal), including 
beans, hard tack and coffee. The vets appropriated (as was 
expected) the tin cups and wooden plates, and tied them to their 
buttons, as in days of yore. You can imagine, boys, what 
fun nearly ten thousand old soldiers would have at such a 
camp-fire as that. There was some speaking, of course, but 
more quiet talks, stories, humor and army drolleries, and, to 
wind up with, singing the old war songs, by the whole crowd. 
And didn't they sing! Why! boys, it would have stirred the- 
blood of a wooden Indian to have heard the boys then. 

''A great deal of singing was done, in both going out and 
coming back on the railroad, and at all the excursions and 
meetings. The Modoc Club, of Topeka, Kansas, twenty gen- 
tlemen, who are splendid singers, were everywhere in demand. 
Also Chaplain Lozier, of Iowa, who had just issued a very fine 
book, and Col. Redington, of New York, the soldier-poet 
and composer, whose songs are so well known. Major Hen- 
dershot, the celebrated ' drummer-boy ' of the war-time, f u r- 
nished stirring music with the drum presented to him by Horace 
Greeley. Comrade Redington was invited to conduct a social 



CAMP-FIKE CHATS OF THE CIVIL WAR. 391 

hour of song of the old war songs on Sunday afternoon. It 
was held at Irving Hall, largely attended and highly enjoyed. 
The power of song and its value in strengthening loyalty is 
more appreciated than ever in all sections of the Grand Army, 
as well as throughout the nation. 

'' During this brilliant reception-week there were many in- 
teresting occasions and gatherings on not so large a scale. 
Every evening there were from four to twelve receptions, wel- 
come meetings and re-unions, held by posts, state soldiers, 
prisoners of war, regiments, etc., etc. During the day post 
and relief corps halls were kept open and refreshments served 
(to the extent of a hearty feast) free to every veteran. One 
day the Seven Pines Ladies' Loyal League (now the Ladies of 
the G. A. K.) fed, between 12 and 3 o'clock, nearly one 
thousand soldiers and relatives with a substantial and splendid 
banquet. Different Pacific Coast states, cities, counties and 
localities had headquarters in the city, where were displayed 
interesting and wonderful fruits, products and curiosities; 
open day and evening, and generously furnishing refresh- 
ments free to all soldiers and relatives. Generals Sherman 
and Logan were often entrapped into speeches, which were 
received with immense enthusiasm. They and Generals Fair- 
child, Burdette, Payne and others were besieged for their 
autographs. Bands often gave concerts on the streets ; fire- 
works were displayed ; some of the theaters and places of 
amusement furnished free admission to veterans. All that 
abundant money, unremitting labor and attention, liberal and 
splendid humanity and lavishly generous hospitality could 
possibly do was thoroughly done for their guests with a charm- 
ing cordiality and kindness. That week will stand out in the 
memory of every Grand Army visitor as a bright oasis amid 
the cares of life — a fairy time of beauty and joy. 

'* The business transacted by the Encampment was mostly 
of the usual routine character. Gen. Lucius Fairchild, of 
Wisconsin, was elected Commander-in-Chief. The member- 



392 CAMP-fiRE CHATS OF 'illE CIVIL WAK. 

ship on March 31, 1886, was reported 326,499 in the thirty- 
eight departments, a gain of 56,805 during the year. 

^^ Perhaps the item of the most importance generally was 
the action taken against the Mormons, of which I will try to 
speak at our next chat; also of some other interesting points. 
I will only take time this evening to tell of the Oakland and 
the San Jose receptions. 

''Oakland, with thirty thousand people, across the bay 
five miles from ^Frisco, is called the ' Athens of the Pacific 
Coast.' Monday, August 9. was 'Oakland Day ' for honor- 
ing the Grand Army. AYe found there the decorations plen- 
tiful and in great variety. A grand parade was held, second 
only to that in San Francisco. Everywhere were decorations, 
people, enthusiasm. On turning one of the corners the col- 
umn marched between two solid masses of fifteen hundred 
school children, waving flags and throwing flowers — yes, 
whole boquets in the pathway of the old heroes. Boys, you 
wont think it strange when I tell you there wasn't a dry eye 
among the veterans there ; while down many bronzed cheeks 
that never quailed in front of blazing rifles, rolled big tears. 
Marching over hundreds of yards carpeted with flowers, half 
a dozen or more inches thick, with the sweet voices of those 
beautiful, earnest children singing grateful praises. Ah ! 
comrades, it was nearer heaven than any spot before. It 
brought to mind that Gen. Grant, in his whole life, was said 
to have been overcome by his feelings but twice ; once at the 
death of a valued friend on the battlefield, and the second 
time by his reception by the school children of Oakland. 

''During all day the Posts and associate societies kept three 
splendid banquets open in different halls — free to every sol- 
dier and friends. In the evening the Topeka Flambeau Club 
gave a splendid pyrotechnic display, and camp-fires and re- 
ceptions were held in several halls. 

'' Tuesday, August 10th, was 'San Jose Day.' Several 
special trains took thousands of excursionists fifty miles 



CAMP-FIRE CHATS OF THE CIVIL WAR. 393 

south, througli a magnificent country. On arrival, tlie same 
most royal welcome was met. Free carriages (and the same 
for use as desired through the day) for all, a banquet that 
seemed a little better than almost any other, and the most 
beautiful ladies one can ever see, dispensing the hospitalities 
in a charming manner. The city (18,000) was handsomely 
decorated. Speeches were made, of course, and lots of sing- 
ing done, in the park and everywhere. The Daughters of 
Veterans kept open house at their headquarters, and dispensed 
delightful hospitality. Their beautiful appearance, in their 
neat uniform, pleased everyone. They gave in the evening 
an entertainment and exhibition drill at Horticultural Hall — 
which was pronounced by the ^*^ vets" to be the very best in 
America. 

'' The Horticultural Fair of the county was in progress, and 
the veteran's badge proved a free pass to enter and see the 
wonderful fruits and products. The county has five hundred 
artesian wells (three hundred within five miles of San Jose), 
which are run mostly by wind-mills, and furnish ample irri- 
gation. 

'^In the evening the Posts of the city held a grand camp- 
fire and reception. And as the boys reviewed that day of 
rare enjoyment they all agreed that there seemed to be some- 
thing in the good people there that gave San Jose hospitality 
a peculiar charm, certain to be always gratefully remem- 
bered. 

^'Now, boys, join with me and sing (in the tune Home, 
Sweet Home), this verse to California : 

"California, the beautiful, the golden and the grand, 

Our hearts are filled with tenderness toward all in your fair land ; 

You met the strangers from afar, with welcome, hearty, true. 

Your bannered streets, and gorgeous halls, appeared like fairy view. 

Fair land of generous souls, 

While life remains our hearts will beat with gratitude to you." 



CAMP-FIRE XL. 

liACRAMEN"TO AKD OTHER CITIES HON^OR THE G. A. R. — THE 
LADIES OF THE GRAl^TD ARMY OF THE REPUBLIC— THE 

WOMAJf^S RELIEF CORPS — THE SOIL'S OF VETERAI^"S 

— THE DAUGHTERS OF VETERAN'S — THE NATIOl^^'S GRATE- 
FUL LOVE FOR THE GRA:N^D ARMY. 

JIE Capital City of the Golden State/' remarked the 
returned comrade, "had in store a surprising welcome 
for all soldiers, and their friends with them, who landed at 
the depot about 6 p. m. The boys had been almost spoiled 
with feasting during the day. Leaving 'Frisco on Wednes- 
day, August 11, at 7:30 a. m,. a ride of forty-six miles ter- 
minated in a halt of two hours at Napa, a beautiful city of 
five thousand population. There must have been three times 
that number to meet us, who had prepared a splendid ban- 
quet under the trees, crowned by wagon-loads of matchless 
fruit. Such grapes, pears, apples, plums and peaches we 
don't see east. Even delicious strawberries (a second crop) 
were furnished to us. 

A ride of eighteen miles brought us to St. Helena, with 
about two thousand five hundred people, where we went 
through again with a similar programme. Then about 
seventy-five miles more of railroading brought us to Sacra- 
mento, a city of about thirty thousand inhabitants. At least 
twice that number was on hand to greet the veterans. Free 
carriages, free street cars (all reserved for the soldiers with 
badges and the friends with them) soon transported all to the 
mammoth pavilion of the State Agricultural Society. Tables 
had been set for two thousand, and spread with a banquet 
that is seldom equaled. One Department Chaplain said he 

394 



CAMP-FIKE CHATS OF THE CIVIL WAR. 395 

had attended a good many five-dollar spreads not equal to 
that. The tables were charmingly waited on by some of the 
loveliest of cultured ladies. The hospitality proved almost a 
fairy scene of generosity and brilliancy, and will be a bright 
spot in the memory of every one who was present. " 

''After the banquet at the Pavilion the Governor held a re- 
ception at the State House. The Topeka Flambeau Club also 
gave a marching exhibition of fire works. 

''At all receptions wine was furnished for those who 
wished it, literally as free as water. And yet, such was the 
trusty character of the comrades that at no time during the 
Encampment, was there any intoxication ; a fact mentioned 
by the daily press with a surprised commendation. That 
night all the visitors were lodged free, at private houses, 
hotels and boarding houses. The next day they were carried 
to visit all places of interest and fed while they remained. 

"From Sacramento some of the comrades returned directly 
to the east. The majority, however, went back to San Fran- 
cisco. On Saturday, August 14, a large number took an ex- 
cursion 483 miles south, to Los Angeles (15,000) — where was 
another huge reception with the same grand hospitality. 

"I wish there was time, boys, to tell you about the smaller 
receptions by posts, societies and individuals, after our return 
to San Francisco. Also of the grand ride on the Pacific 
Ocean by steamer, 550 miles north to the mouth of the 
Columbia river, and then a hundred miles up that stream, 
with its river scenery unequaled in grandeur, to Portland, 
Oregon. Fifteen miles from the mouth of the river we 
stopped an hour at Astoria (SjOOt)), the headquarters of the 
great salmon-canning industry. Portland is a fine city of 
25,000 inhabitants, with splendid streets and business blocks. 

"From Portland to St. Paul is 1,912 miles over the excel- 
lently equipped Northern Pacific Eailroad, and through a 
more interesting and productive country than some of the 
desert wilds we traversed on the Central Pacific Railroad, 



396 CAMP-FIKE CHATS OF THE CIVIL WAR. 

'' Our return trip from San Fi'ancisco to Chicago has cov- 
ered 2,971 miles — nearly 300 more than the outward run. 

" Before I undertake to tell other interesting things about 
the California Encampment, I must first speak of the societies 
of relatives and friends of the veterans of the G. A. E., 
who are organized to assist in the good work of charity and 
loyalty, in which the Grand Army leads. There are three 
associations of ladies and one of gentlemen. 

''I mention first. Ladies of the Grand Army of Eepublic.''' 

'^Why," interrupted the sergeant, "I never heard that 
name before. What kind of a history are you giving us? I 
thought they were called th^' Relief Corps." 

'^1 am not now speaking," said the narrator, *'^of that 
excellent association, the Woman's Relief Corps, but of a 
different society. As I tell you the facts I have taken con- 
siderable pains to verify, you will see why the name is new to 
many, though the association itself, the Ladies of the Grand 
Army of the Republic, is the oldest patriotic organization of 
ladies that is now at work . 

*' In the year 1869 some of the relatives of veterans of the 
war in the State of Maine formed a ladies' society. Their ob- 
ject was to aid in any way in their power, the old soldiers in 
the work of caring for needy soldiers and their families, or the 
widows and orphans of veterans. Also in teaching to the 
young a genuine loyalty, and in stimulating all the people to 
the truest devotion to country. They called themselves the 
Relief Corps of the State of Maine, and none were admitted 
as members but the mothers, wives, sisters and daughters of 
soldiers or sailors. We all remember, boys, how in the war 
we prized what these dear relatives of ours did for our cheer 
and comfort. How their faith, and love and prayers acted as 
a nerve to every one of our hearts. So I needn't take much 
time to say that these noble women did a quiet, gentle work 
of love and cheer, that was of great aid to the Grand Army 
boys in Maine. They continued their work quietly, without 



CAMP-FIRE CHATS OF THE CIVIL AVAR. 307 

attempting to spread their names and deeds throughout the 
nation. Consequently many of the Grand Army did not know 
of the great help that woman^s gentle hand and warm heart of 
love could afford. 

" The success of this organization of ladies in Maine, demon- 
strated, however, that here was a mighty ally of the Grand 
Army's best work. As a result there was formed at the time 
of the Seventeenth National Encampment of the G. A. R. at 
Denver, in 1883, the society of the Woman's Relief Corps — 
now a very powerful organization. They took the name that 
the Maine ladies had, but altered the requirement of relation- 
ship to soldiers, and voted to receive as members any respec- 
table loyal ladies. As the ladies of the Relief Corps of the 
State of Maine have now formed a part of the Ladies of the 
Grand Army of the Republic, I have mentioned this society 
first, inasmuch as their existence began some fourteen years 
before the Woman's Relief Corps. At various times subse- 
quent to 1869 the mothers, wives, daughters and sisters of the 
soldiers organized into societies at different points, under the 
name of the Ladies' Loyal League, the membership being the 
strongest in the States of Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Ohio, 
West Virginia, Kansas and California. They admitted none 
as members but actual relatives of soldiers. 

'^ Early in the year 1885 this union of the relatives of soldiers 
was commenced in the great State of Illinois. Mrs. Edward 
Roby, of Chicago, who had lost a husband and four brothers 
in the war, and who had been actively engaged herself in war 
hospital work, and since that time for good to the soldiers, 
took hold of the matter with her accustomed zeal and wisdom. 
She procured a State charter for the Ladies of the Grand 
Army of the Republic, and soon this society was accomplish- 
ing a noble work in the great State which gave the country a 
Lincoln, a Grant, and a Logan. 

^*^In November, 1886, a national convention was held in. 
Chicago of all the three associations of soldiers' relatives, the- 



398 CAMP-PIRE CHATS OF THE CIVIL WAR. 

State Relief Corps of Maine, the Ladies' Loyal League, and 
the Ladies of the Grand Army of the Republic. At tl^is con- 
vention, the name for the united societies was adopted, the 
Ladies of the Grand Army of the Republic — that beautiful 
title so felicitously chosen first in a western state. Therefore, 
this association of the Ladies of the Grand Army of the Re- 
public is the oldest ladies' loyal organization, though not the 
largest, as its membership does not exceed ten thousand. 

'* They are not an auxiliary to the Grand Army. Their 
platform and resolutions distinctly state that fact, and that 
they hold themselves free to act wherever they choose, and as 
they choose, in doing good to the soldiers and their families, 
•or widows, or orphans. Their relationship to the comrades 
•of the Grand Army of the Republic is sufficient glory and 
recognition for them. 

' 'Another active principle with them is to aid in increasing 
genuine loyalty in our land. They want patriotism taught to 
our young, as well as all our citizens. They secure the more 
frequent use of patriotic songs and reading among the child- 
ren in all our schools. In many places, they have secured in 
every school what is called ''Grand Army Day,'' where the 
Priday afternoon before Decoration Day is exclusively given 
to patriotic exercises. 

" The national president of the Ladies of the Grand Army 
•of the Republic is Mrs. Laura McNeir, of Camden, N. J., a 
fine writer and a very eloquent speaker. They who were the 
chief officers of the separate organizations (before union into 
one) insisted on taking subordinate positions, and were 
elected as follows: Senior vice-president, Mrs. Charles W. 
'Gerwig, Allegheny, Penn.; junior vice-president, Mrs. Whit- 
man Sawyer, Portland, Me.; national counsellor, Mrs. Ed- 
ward Roby, Chicago; national corresponding secretaries, Mrs. 
M. M. Hall, San Francisco, Cal., Mrs. Libbie N. Butcher, 
Parkersburg, W. Va., Mrs. Philip Gunlock, Chicago, Mrs. 
-Major Gen. 0. Edwards, Warsaw, 111., Mrs. Ida L. Gainer, 



CAMP-riKE CHATS OF THE CIVIL WAR. 399 

McAlister, I. T.; Chief of Council of Administration, Mrs. 
Major Gen. John A. Logan, Washington, D. C." 

''What good," said the Sergeant, ''have the Ladies of the 
O. A. R. done in the way of relief work ? " 

"I am not able," answered the narrator, "to give any 
information about the work in general. I had an opportu- 
nity to learn what Circle No. 1, in Chicago, accomplished. 
The donations raised and used by them for the relief of old 
soldiers and their families during one year amounted to over 
$3,000. During the same year they were successful (where 
•others had failed) in securing pensions and back allowance for 
soldiers to the amount of over $10,000." 

"Something like our lady relatives in war time, aren't 
they ?" said the handsome Major, "can't be beat." 

"I come now, boys, to the largest organization of loyal 
ladies — the' Woman's Relief Corps. Although started but a 
little over three years ago (viz., on July 25, 1883, at Denver), 
they number over 40,000 members at the present time. 

"I am not enough of an orator, comrades, to be able to 
speak worthily of that mighty host of American women. 
Their warm hearts; their sympathetic souls for charity (at the 
;same time with superior tact and discretion in its disburse- 
ment); their, busy fingers and feet for the soldiers' good; 
their admiring love for the old heroes; their true patriotism; 
their influence in inspiring the young with love of country; 
their power for purity (and so for better citizens and a better 
land); the success of their bright, happy faces, not only in 
ministering to the poor, the sick, and the suffering, but in 
bringing also to the well a loving courage and cheer; their 
.sincere faith and heaven-reaching prayers — all these will 
bring an uplifting leaven of hope and strength, of aid and 
result, of cheer and reward that will bless every veteran's 
heart, if open to receive it. 

"Look at the grand women that lead that magnificent 
army! Mrs. Anna Wittenmeyer, of Philadelphia, that angel 



400 CAMP-FIRE CHATS OF THE CIVIL AVAR. 

of healing, whose wise work saved scores of thousands of 
soldiers' lives, beside relieving suffering and pain in millions; 
whose introduction of the diet kitchens into the army was 
perhaps the greatest practical good any woman ever did to 
humanity. See that beautiful and splendid illustration of 
American womanhood, r.Irs. Kate B. Sherwood, of Toledo, 
Ohio, the exquisite poetess and writer of patriotic eloquence, 
whose words will nerve and bless millions upon millions every 
year, while time shall last. Look at their honored national 
president, Mrs. Elizabeth D'A. Kinne, of San Francisco, and 
the two other j^ast national presidents (beside Mrs. Sher- 
wood), Mrs. E. F. Barker, of Maiden, Mass., and Mrs. Sarah 
E. Fuller, of East Boston, Mass. I can't stop to tell you the 
names of the noble women who are officers in this large 
organization (thirty-two departments and 1500 corps), or 
I should keep you all night. It will be more interesting to 
you for me to quote some of the words and records of the 
Grand Army about this auxiliary to its usefulness. 

*^The Nineteenth Encampment resolved 'That the Wo- 
man's Eelief Corps has our earnest wishes for its continued 
success; our hearty support of the purposes of its organiza- 
tion, and our cooperation in all of its undertakings.' 
'^ Commander-in-chief, Kountz, said at Portland: 
*' 'Knowing the great work accomplished by the ladies in 
my own city, and their efficient help in the charitable work 
of my Post, I have always been a firm believer in woman's, 
work for the Grand Army. Wherever the Woman's Eelief 
Cor^os has met the encouragement from our comrades that it 
so richly deserves, it has made excellent progress and been an 
invaluable help in our fraternal and charitable work. It is 
faithfully fulfifiing its mission, and while we welcome all who 
would aid in our great work, under whatsoever name, I cor- 
dially commend this organization of loyal ladies to the con- 
tinued confidence and respect of the Grand Army of the Ee- 
public' 



CAMP-FIRE CHATS OF THE CIVIL WAR. 401 

'' Commander-in-Chief, Gen. S. S. Burdette, said in Gen- 
-eral Orders on Thanksgiving Day, 1885: 

^^' After careful observation of the results of the work of 
the Woman's Relief Corps, finding in it room for commenda^ 
tion only, I recommend with all earnestness that their organi- 
zation be encouraged and persevered in until every post of the 
Grand Army shall have by its side this efficient aid in all our 
works of beneficence, these best guides in the ways of doing 
good. There is no testimony to the worth of our great insti- 
tution more decisive than the fact that the woman^s faith and 
works, which was our bow of promise in the darker days, still 
follow us with unforgetting kindness, only asking leave to 
serve our cause.' 

^^Gen. Burdette, in his report at San Francisco, said : 

*''*The Woman's Relief Corps has passed beyond the stage 
of mere patronage or commendation. It has become a settled 
-auxiliary and recognized agency of the Grand Army of the 
Republic in all its work of beneficence. Its fame, whether 
for good or ill, is ours, and the proper administration of its 
trusts and the accomplishment of its helpful aim, are to us 
as well as itself, matters of proper concern. I have heard 
good of it from all quarters, evil from none.' 

"The present Commander-in-Chief, Gen. Fairchild, said 
at San Francisco, in regard to the Woman's Relief Corps: 

" ^It is fitting that the patriotic women of America should 
share with us the work which recalls a past in v>^hicli they 
bore so conspicuous and so honorable a part. Let our Union 
be fully consummated and may we walk together in Faith, 
Love and Charity, until death do us part.' 

''^During the last year the Woman's Relief Corps of the 
United States expended themselves in charity $23,482 and 
turned over to the posts over $14,000. Corps funds on hand, 
June 30, 1886, 824,267; relief fund on hand, 120,321. Still 
greater relief work is being done this year." 



402 CAMP-FIRE CHATS OF THE CIVIL WAR. 

''And now, comrades, I come to a subject of deep interest 
to US all — the Sons of Veterans, our boys. That they should 
desire to aid the old soldiers and to honor such deeds and 
patriotism is natural and praiseworthy. 

''The Sons of Veterans were founded in Pittsburg, Pa., 
in November, 1881 by Major A. P. Davis, a prominent G. A. 
E. comrade. Their objects are: 

"To keep green the memories of our fathers and their 
sacrifices to maintain the Union, and to promote their interests 
and welfare as opportunity may offer or necessity may demand; 
to aid and assist in caring for their helpless and disabled vet- 
erans; to extend aid and protection to their widows and 
orphans; to perpetuate the memory of their heroic dead and 
the proper observance of Memorial Day; to aid and assist 
worthy and needy members of our order; to inculcate |)atri- 
otism and love of country among our membership, and all 
the people of our land, and to spread and sustain the doctrine 
of equal rights, universal liberty, and justice to all. 

" They have grown rapidly, and are now found in thirty- 
five states and territories, with a membership of over 50,000. 
The order is military in its character and ceremonial work 
and officered in accordance with army regulations. I have 
myself seen some splendid drilling done by different camps. 
All comrades of the G. A. E. are cordially welcomed to all 
meetings at all times. The ceremonies are simple, impress- 
ive and helpful. Their lessons are beneficial and teach true 
patriotism and the highest duties of citizens. They aid the 
development of all the inherent and essential qualities of a 
true and systematical manhood. There can be no foundation 
for a young men's society equal to that of American valor and 
living loyalty. Like the Grand Army, no politics are allowed 
in the order. It is a feast, comrades, to attend their meet- 
ings and see the noble spirit displayed. The boys are chips 
off the old block, and propose to do something by their own 
efforts. They intend to have 250,000 members in five years. 



GAMP-FIEE CHATS OF THE CIVIL WAK. 405 

This spring of 1887 sees the Sons of Veterans established 
stronger than ever in public estimation. In the first place, 
they are a splendid body of young men. Valor tells every- 
where, and through succeeding generations shows its true 
nobility. Again, they are banded together for the best 
object, the perpetuation of freedom, as well as to honor 
American valor and care for the needs of soldiers and their 
families. Still farther, the military training they receive 
forms a solid strength and defense to the nation ; always 
ready for efficient work. Leading newspapers are advocating 
their claim to generous appreciation everywhere. Why may 
not the people rejoice to see perpetuated the sturdy vigor and 
dauntless spirit of Columbia's Immortal Heroes — the admir- 
ation of the world — especially when their own sons are the 
faithful exemplars ? The boys are worthy descendants and 
are showing a gallant appreciation of the honor and duty 
bequeathed to them. 

*^'The Grand Army have often, officially and otherwise, 
wished the Sons of Veterans the greatest success. 

" Commander-in Chief Burdette well expressed the senti- 
ment at the San Francisco Encampment: 

*^^ Whenever our ritual is said, we repeat that 'eternal 
vigilance is the price of liberty. ' W^e shall be content to va- 
cate our posts, if as we fall back through the shadows we see 
the picket-line still manned, and that the uniform is blue. 

'' ' Eecognizing the ability and the will of the generation 
we ourselves have sent to the front to do the duty of patriot- 
ism, we give to the Sons of Veterans and their work the bless- 
ing of the heart of the Grand Army, wishing them God-speed 
in their united and patriotic labors.^ 

^'Gen. Burdette's words are echoed on every side. I tell 
you, comrades, the Grand Army and the loyal public are ap- 
preciating more fully every day the scope and value of the 
Sons of Veterans. One thing is sure, had there been such an 
organization in January, 1861, there would have been no war. 



404 CAMP-FIRE CHATS OF THE CIVIL WAR. 

'^And now, boys, a word on another equally interesting 
subject, ' The Daughters of Veterans/ We met Camp No. 1, 
at San Jose, Cal., and it rejoiced every veteran's heart to see 
them. Their objects are much the same as those of the Sons 
of Veterans, and they bring young, loving and beautiful zeal 
to the noble work in which the Grand Army leads. Here- 
tofore they have been mostly identified with the Woman's 
Eelief Corps (who, at San Francisco, by resolution warmly 
commended them), but are now organizing by themselves. St. 
Paul has started the work in the northwest with a splendid 
camp, and in Pennsylvania and in several other states, camps 
are forming. I have heard of provisional officers for a national 
organization. The best information can be obtained, I pre- 
sume, from the one to whom the credit belongs of being the 
first to demonstrate by a splendid success what the old soldiers' 
daughters can do. I refer lo the efficient and charming cap- 
tain of the San Jose camp, Miss Tina 0. Hillman, daughter 
'Of California's beautiful poetess, Mrs. E. 0. Smith. 

^^ Comrades, I find I must postpone a host of things. For 
a few chats I have not had time for fun, there is so much to 
tell of the noble in the scope of the Grand Army. And be- 
fore bidding you good-night, let me say that the great heart 
of our people, warm and loving toward the old soldier, looks 
with intense interest to-day that he prove a knight without 
reproach, as he has shown himself one without fear. As said 
one of the grandest womanly hearts on earth, who has suffered 
for the country more than any soldier, ' You have earned the 
everlasting love and gratitude of all the good. Oh! that our 
influence may help you toward a purity of life and thought 
equal to your valor ! ' 

"Comrades! to eternal muster soon we'll move; 
Clean at Heaven's inspection, may all vet'rans prove!" 



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